


THREATENING A TSURUGI

by OminousPredictions



Series: CONSEQUENCES [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Evil Lila Rossi, F/M, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Racist Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:55:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27108337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OminousPredictions/pseuds/OminousPredictions
Summary: Lila is furious to discover that Adrien is dating Kagami and immediately tries to threaten the Japanese girl into backing off. When Kagami refuses, Lila proceeds to try the same tactics she used to frame Marinette, only for them all to blow up in her face. When Lila goes too far in her actions, however, she realises too late why engaging in a war with a member of the Tsurugi family is a tremendously bad idea.Entry 4 in the CONSEQUENCES series.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi
Series: CONSEQUENCES [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830691
Comments: 170
Kudos: 769
Collections: Lila salt/exposed fics





	1. Chapter I

**Author's Note:**

> Lila will be perhaps at the vilest I've ever written her in this story. Fair warning, she will use some racist language.
> 
> Also, this will be a bit longer at three chapters.

Lila was staring at Adrien Agreste’s Twitter page without really seeing it, all her thoughts focused on not throwing the phone against the wall. It now listed his relationship status as “In a Relationship”, but it was not with Marinette. It was with a girl called Kagami Tsurugi. Lila recalled her vaguely as the one who’d attacked her and given her a horn, which she still intended to pay her back for, and cursed herself for underestimating her. Whilst she’d known that Kagami was interested in Adrien in a romantic way, she’d dismissed her as having no chance with her cold personality and lack of overt pursuit, instead choosing to focus on Marinette. Clearly that had been a mistake, and Marinette was going to have to take a backseat. Oh, she’d still make sure to cause the pigtailed brat whatever misfortune or misery she could get away with, but for now her main target was Kagami. 

“Adrien is mine!”, she growled to herself.

Adrien. So perfect a specimen of a person; handsome, rich, ridiculously naive, accommodating, rich, well-connected, rich…………. he could take her places she deserved to be. He was her ticket to the life she so desperately wanted and was entitled to have and she would be damned if she let anyone else take that ticket, not after working so hard for so long to get it. And Adrien’s consent was irrelevant; she had the boy’s father on her side and Adrien was too spineless to go against the man. She put the phone down and got ready for bed, a plan already forming itself in her mind. Kagami now went to their school, so it would be a simple matter of getting her alone like with Marinette and offering her a single chance to relinquish Adrien or Lila would ruin her life. Part of her hoped the Japanese girl wouldn’t listen; she really enjoyed making people outcasts, the looks of pain and sadness and rage on their faces as they realised all their friends had dumped them for the more interesting new girl from Italy. And once she was out of the way, she would insinuate to Mr. Agreste that she might make a good candidate for Adrien’s girlfriend since her mother had a lot of contacts that could be beneficial to the brand. Whether or not that was true was inconsequential to her; she just needed Mr. Agreste to believe it long enough for her to get what she wanted. Lila Rossi fell asleep with a very cruel smile on her face.

The next morning she rose bright and early, callously deleting the heartfelt message her mother had recorded and departing for school. Normally she would head straight into the centre of the largest group and start regaling everyone with her latest tall tale, but this morning she was on a mission and seeking her target above all else. She saw Marinette speaking with Nathaniel and some fairy boy wearing make-up and briefly entertained the notion of butting in and ruining the conversation they were so clearly enjoying, but her eyes had picked out Kagami on the far side of the courtyard heading for the locker room and so she settled for a cold glare and a smug smirk as she passed, letting Marinette know that they were still at war. Marinette glared back, showing she was not intimidated, but Lila paid it no heed. She entered the locker room and hung back as she watched Kagami open her locker and put some things inside it, waiting until everyone else had left before approaching.

“Oh, hello there!”, she burst out cheerfully.

Kagami eyed her warily, clearly not used to other people approaching her first.

“Good morning.”, she replied politely.

“I just saw last night that you and Adrien are dating! I just wanted to pass on my congratulations.”, Lila gushed.

“Mm-hm.”, Kagami replied, still on her guard.

Lila scowled internally; what Adrien saw in this frigid bitch she had no idea. 

“Oh, where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Lila Rossi.”, she said.

“Yes, I’ve……….. heard of you.”, Kagami replied.

Lila tried not to let her irritation show.

“Oh? In what way?”, she asked. 

“Marinette has spoken at length of you during some of our chats.”, Kagami replied.

Marinette! Of course the two Oriental eyesores would be friends.

“Whatever she said about me, it isn’t true!”, Lila said, false tears welling. “Marinette’s been nothing but a jealous bully towards me ever since I arrived here!”

“Please, do not insult my friends nor my intelligence.”, Kagami replied coldly. “My social skills are somewhat lacking, but I am nevertheless exceptionally good at reading people. And what I am reading about you is screaming many warning bells even without Marinette’s warning.”

“Warning?”, Lila asked, slightly confused.

“Yes.”, Kagami replied. “She and I talked yesterday about my dating Adrien. She was very accepting of it despite her own attraction to him and wished me all the best, but also warned me that you would not take kindly to the relationship because you desire Adrien for yourself.”

Lila was on the point of denying this, trying to spin it as Marinette lying, but realised bitterly that this girl would never believe it. Ah well, time to forgo subtlety.

“I see she’s been pretty thorough.”, Lila remarked. “Then you’ll know how this goes.”

She advanced on Kagami, who stood her ground but tensed visibly, as though preparing for a fight.

“I’ll give you the same chance I gave Marinette. Either back down and relinquish Adrien, or else it’ll be war between us.”, she purred malevolently.

Kagami did not reply in any way other than to raise one eyebrow a small half-millimetre.

“Is that it?”, she asked, sounding almost annoyed like she’d been expecting more.

Lila blinked, caught off-guard, and Kagami used the opportunity to close and secure her locker before leaving. Lila grabbed her arm as she tried to brush past her.

“Last chance. Are you going to back away from Adrien?”, she asked.

“No.”, Kagami replied bluntly.

Lila hissed and tightened her grip, digging her nails into the flesh of Kagami’s arm but the Japanese girl showed no outward reaction.

“Then you’ve made a big mistake making an enemy out of me.”, Lila promised.

“If you plan on waging this silly little war, go right ahead.”, Kagami replied.

“I will destroy you. I got Marinette expelled with a few sob stories, so just think of what I can do to you.”, Lila hissed.

Kagami’s eyes flashed as she fixed the Italian girl with a hard, withering stare.

“The only reason that worked is because Marinette was too trusting and let her guard down around you. That may be how she operates, believing that such threats are bluffs, but I am different. If I get even the hint that someone is working against me with malignant intent, I don’t relax my guard. I will meet you head-on in whatever malevolent little trick you pull, I will not hold back and I will show you no mercy unless YOU back off.”, she said.

“Is that a threat?”, Lila asked derisively.

“No. It is a promise.”, Kagami replied. “Now, in the spirit of honour I will give you a chance to call off this deluded fantasy of yours and forget this ever happened so long as you don’t take action against me, Adrien or Marinette. Reject this chance, however, and you will sorely regret it.”

Lila laughed, a cold and cruel mocking one.

“Are you seriously thinking I’ll listen to you?”, she sneered.

“Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Always give an enemy a way out.”, Kagami replied. “In his context, he means to allow the enemy a chance to escape lest they fight viciously like a cornered rat. In my case, I am offering you a chance to back down from a messy conflict that will only lead to your own doom.”

“You really think I’m going to fall for that holier-than-thou goody two shoes bit?”, Lila sneered.

“It matters not what you think or do to me. I have told you what will happen if you choose this path.”, Kagami replied. “Now, please let go of my arm or I will be late for class.”

She tried to tug her arm loose, but Lila held on.

“You’ll regret this! I will destroy you so thoroughly that Adrien will be begging me to accept him.”, Lila snarled.

“No, I rather think that will not happen. And if you don’t take your hand off me in the next five seconds, you will lose that hand.”, Kagami replied.

There was a deadly serious tone in her voice that made Lila yank her hand away. Kagami merely turned on her heel and left the locker room, leaving the Italian to stew in anger and disbelief.

“I’ll show her!”, she hissed. “I’ll show that slant-eyed fish-eater what happens when you mess with Lila Rossi!”

But she was wrong. And she really should have taken that peace offering. Because if there’s one thing the Tsurugi family does not do in a fight, it’s hold back.

==================================================================

Lila was in a steaming rage all through the day, spending her time in class thinking of ways to crush Kagami instead of listening to Ms. Bustier’s lectures. The others in the class noticed this, noticed her absence of tall tales, but did not comment; a few of them were actually relieved since it allowed them to talk to each other about themselves for once. Lila plotted and schemed, her wicked mind buzzing with ideas to discredit and bring down Kagami. She was still plotting later on as she passed Ms. Mendeleiev’s classroom. The door was partially opened, allowing her a glimpse inside and to hear the stern, purple-haired science teacher lecturing her class.

“Remember to study for your physics test next week. I expect good marks from all of you and no funny business with the test results like what happened with Caline’s class.”, she was saying. “If I find any evidence of tampering or cheating from any of you, you’ll be out on your ear before you can say “Quidditch!”

Lila listened to this with great interest. Then her eyes fell on Kagami, sitting in the back of the class, and her face broke into a wicked smile. Instant expulsion if proof of cheating were discovered, eh? This she could work with. And, after all, it had worked so marvellously well with Marinette and Ms. Bustier, even with the entire class willing to defend the girl. Who was she to ignore such a marvellous opportunity fate so kindly provided?

Getting into Ms. Mendeleiev’s classroom wasn’t easy. Unlike Ms. Bustier, who was too trusting for her own good, Ms. Mendeleiev clearly believed that one could never be too careful with leaving answer sheets lying around to provide temptation. Lila had used the chaos of an akuma attack to break into the classroom and steal the answer sheet, but it was a close call; the locks on the classroom door and the teacher’s desk had been exceptionally hard to crack and she’d missed being caught by the skin of her teeth, but she had what she came for. Next, she stole into the locker room after school had ended, lying that she’d left something behind, and slipped the answer sheet into Kagami’s locker, then placed an anonymous note detailing it into Ms. Mendeleiev’s mail slot. Done and done! She smirked wickedly to herself as she stole out of the school.

“So long, Ice Queen!”, she crowed under her breath.

==================================================================

The next day, Lila headed to school with a spring in her step, eagerly imagining Kagami’s expulsion. Her very strict mother would likely remove her from the country in disgrace and dear, sweet, sympathetic and so very innocent Lila could swoop in to comfort a devastated Adrien. So simple a plan, and yet so genius. However, Lila could have benefited from listening to her classmates more often. If she had, she might have heard Nathaniel remarking on a Yiddish saying his grandmother had taught him. 

“Man plans, God laughs.”, he had said.

When asked to elaborate, Nathaniel had explained that people could have everything planned in exacting detail and have those best-laid plans upset by something completely unexpected. If Lila had bothered to listen to him, she might have considered the option of her plan going awry. Or she might not have; as self-absorbed and narcissistic as she was, she simply could not fathom any plan she came up with as going wrong in any way. She climbed the front steps of the school and entered the courtyard, where her smirk grew wider as she saw all the students gathered there, talking urgently with each other, and Ms. Mendeleiev talking to Mr. Damocles, a grave look on their faces, with Kagami next to the science teacher. The Japanese girl looked as stoic as ever, which was slightly irritating. Affecting an expression of mingled worry and confusion, Lila made her way over to a group of her classmates who were talking urgently in low voices.

“What’s going on?”, Lila asked, looking around at them.

She was vaguely surprised to register a few of them giving her darkly suspicious looks, particularly Alya, Nathaniel and Max; those three were among the cleverer or more observant members of the class.

“We’re not sure.”, Alya replied after a moment. “Apparently something happened with Ms. Mendeleiev’s class’ test answer sheet, but that’s all I know.”

“Like what happened with Marinette, or so I’ve heard.”, Nathaniel remarked.

Lila noticed him giving her a very shrewd and calculating look and wondered if he knew more than he was letting on about the situation. She’d have to keep a close eye on the red-headed artist if that were indeed the case.

“Anyway, that’s all Ms. Bustier would tell us.”, Alya went on. “Once everyone’s here and school begins, Mr. Damocles and Ms. Mendeleiev will address the school.”

Lila melted into the crowd as Marinette and Adrien arrived, both looking tired and confused. Lila watched with narrowed eyes as the two spoke with Alya and Nino, who were presumably filling them in on the situation. Marinette and Adrien exchanged significant looks, then as one turned to glare suspiciously at Lila, who met their gaze with a calculating one of her own as Mr. Damocles cleared his throat.

“Good morning, students.”, he said.

“Good morning, Mr. Damocles.”, they chorused.

“The reason I have gathered you all here this morning is because of an incident involving Ms. Mendeleiev’s recent mock exam.”, Mr. Damocles continued. “Yesterday, someone broke into Ms. Mendeleiev’s classroom and stole the answer sheet from her desk. This is not the first time such a thing has happened at this school, as I’m sure you’re all aware.”

Quite a few heads turned to regard Marinette, but the looks were of doubt rather than accusation. Lila gritted her teeth; despite her best efforts, nobody believed Marinette was capable of such things. 

“Normally this would lead to the instant and permanent expulsion of the culprit.”, Mr. Damocles went on.

Lila’s spirits rose.

“However, as the aforementioned incident demonstrated, things aren’t always as they seem at first glance.”, Mr. Damocles pronounced.

Lila’s spirits plummeted.

“In order to prevent such misunderstandings from happening again, certain precautions were taken by the staff.”, Mr. Damocles went on. “I will yield the floor to Ms. Mendeleiev for her to explain.”

Ms. Mendeleiev stepped forwards and fixed the assembled students with her iciest and most piercing glare, causing a nervous shuffling of feet and averted gazes.

“Like the previous incident, an answer sheet went missing and an anonymous note placed in the mail slot of the teacher pointed the finger at a student who is not known for such delinquent actions.”, she said. “In this case, the note accused Kagami Tsurugi of the theft and alleged that the sheet could be found in her locker. This was indeed the case.”

Ms. Mendeleiev held up the stolen sheet and Lila fought to keep her face straight.

“Despite the presence of this so-called evidence, Ms. Tsurugi is not guilty.”, Ms. Mendeleiev continued. “The reason for this is, aside from her established behaviour, the fact that this sheet was a decoy. I was not merely content with discouraging cheating, I was determined to punish it. So I planted a sheet with false answers in my desk and when I discovered them missing and the note accusing Ms. Tsurugi of it, I reviewed her test. It showed all the correct answers, none of the false ones.”

Lila felt like she’d been punched in the stomach; how could that have happened? What sort of psycho teacher did things like that?

“Based on this, I concluded that someone had attempted to frame Ms. Tsurugi in the same manner as Ms. Dupain-Cheng. Regrettably I cannot say with confidence who it is and I doubt they will come forwards, but let it be known that we shall be keeping a VERY sharp eye on you all and if anymore funny business happens, the entire school will be punished until the culprit comes forward. You have been warned.”, Ms. Mendeleiev finished coldly.

With that, the assembly broke up and the students headed for their respective classes, all of them talking about what they’d just heard. A few were glancing suspiciously at each other, but nobody was outright accusing or blaming anyone. Yet. Lila herself was too busy stewing in fury over her failed plot to notice the looks she was receiving from some of her classmates. Ms. Bustier, her face stern and calculating, set them all some history review to look over but it was clear nobody was concentrating heavily. Lila bent her head over her books, cursing the staff.

“My plan was foolproof!”, she muttered to herself, missing the look Nathaniel gave her.

She was distracted all through the day, but set aside her feelings as she went with Adrien to their weekly photoshoot. When they got there, however, Adrien asked to speak with her alone.

“Of course, Adrien! Wait until I tell you about the conference I had with Prince Ali about reducing world pollution!”, Lila gushed.

Adrien led her to an isolated part of the set, then folded his arms and fixed her with a cold glare.

“I know you were behind what happened with Kagami this morning.”, he said.

“Adrien! Why would you say that?”, Lila asked, trying to look innocent.

“Cut the crap, Lila. This is the exact same stunt you pulled with Marinette, so don’t insult my intelligence by lying to me.”, Adrien snapped.

Lila realised there was no fooling him and affected a surly look.

“So what if I did it?”, she asked sullenly. “They didn’t expel the cold bitch so I don’t know what you’re so angry about.”

“I’m angry because I’ve warned you time and time again about hurting my friends and you don’t seem inclined to listen.”, Adrien replied. “Need I remind you that the last time you upset her, she tracked you all over Paris trying to kill you with a sharpened branch?”

He couldn’t resist smirking at her reaction.

“I haven’t forgotten that, Adrien. But there is a way you could persuade me to leave her alone.”, she purred.

“And what is that?”, Adrien asked in a long-suffering voice.

“Break up with her and go out with me.”, Lila replied.

Adrien actually fought an urge to throw up and laugh, not necessarily in that order.

“Not even if we were the last two humans on Earth.”, he replied simply.

Lila scowled; it was an ugly look.

“What do you see in her, anyway?”, she asked. “I’ve seen icebergs with more warmth than her.”

“She’s kind, she’s assertive without being too forward, she’s very clever and, most importantly, she’s honest and is interested in me beyond my wealth and status.”, Adrien replied smoothly. “None of which can be said about you.”

It was entertaining watching Lila’s blood pressure rise from these remarks, her face turning steadily redder like she was being filled with boiling water.

“Enjoy her while you can, Adrien.”, she said. “When I’m through with her, not even the lowliest vagrant will want to be her friend.”

“Hah! Do your worst.”, Adrien retorted.

She glanced at him in surprise.

“What? No deal to save her sorry hide?”, she asked.

“I don’t need to. Kagami will utterly destroy you if you try anything with her.”, Adrien replied.

And he turned and walked away, leaving Lila to stew in anger. 

“Just you wait, Adrien Agreste.”, she snarled. “Soon she’ll be gone, and you will be mine.”

She fretted and plotted all throughout the shoot, causing innumerable redos and almost driving many of the staff to tears of frustration, but she didn’t care. Her evil mind churned with plots, distracting her from a lot of things, all through the night and into the next morning. And then it hit her. Or, more precisely, she hit the door with her face due to not concentrating. She let out a shriek of pain and stumbled backwards, one hand over her eye. Real tears were shed because this pain wasn’t faked and when she looked in the mirror, she shrieked again as she saw her eye begin to swell, as well as a trickle of blood from her lip. She looked terrible and was in awful pain.

“Oh! How could this get any worse?!”, she shrieked. “I look like I’ve been assaulted!”

And then a truly wicked idea occurred to her. Yes, she did look like she’d been assaulted……….. by Kagami! Now here was a plan that couldn’t possibly fail! She could spin it as Kagami attacking her from jealousy that still stemmed from the Oni-Chan incident. And not only would this see her expelled, it would see her utterly disgraced throughout the world for assaulting a diplomat’s daughter with so many disabilities. 

“Ohhhh, this is too good!”, Lila crowed triumphantly.

She made sure to delay leaving home so she could arrive late and sell the act of having been ambushed on her way to school. She stumbled up the stairs of the school and approached Ms. Bustier’s classroom. The door was ajar and she could hear the teacher giving attendance.

“Has anyone seen Lila?”, she heard Ms. Bustier ask.

Perfect timing! Putting on her most convincing act, she crashed roughly through the door to land in a sobbing heap on the floor. 

“Found her!”, Kim said, not quite comprehending the situation yet.

Lila raised her head and there were gasps of shock at the sight of her black, swollen eye and cut lip. Alya, Rose and Ms. Bustier ran to her side, whilst the others stood and gawked. Ms. Bustier, who had some First Aid training, examined her closely.

“This will need some ice for the swelling.”, she said. “Sabrina, go and get the nurse.”

“Girl, what on earth happened to you?”, Alya asked.

Time to really put on the waterworks, Lila thought. It wasn’t especially hard since she was in genuine pain.

“Oh, it was horrible!”, she wailed. “On my way to school………. I was attacked!”

There were gasps of horror and shock from her classmates.

“Attacked?”, Ms. Bustier exclaimed. “Lila, that’s horrible! Do you know who it was?”

“I think……….. I think it was……….. Kagami!”, Lila sobbed.

There were a few seconds of shocked silence, then a roar.

“WHAT?!”, Adrien bellowed.

Several people jumped, almost a foot in the air, and looked in disbelief at the normally calm and collected model. He looked murderously angry and he was fiddling with the silver ring on his hand in an unidentifiable manner, like he was restraining himself from something.

“How dare you?!”, he seethed. “Kagami would never do that!”

Alya was looking very uncertain.

“Well, Adrien, she did attack Lila when she was akumatised.”, she pointed out reasonably.

“Yeah, but when are akumatised people reasonable?”, Alix retorted.

“Still, Kagami does not seem the type to attack anyone.”, Kim remarked.

“Lila, are you quite sure it was Kagami who did this?”, Ms. Bustier asked.

Lila was about to repeat herself, but Adrien beat her to it.

“It can’t have been. Kagami’s not in Paris today.”, he said.

“She’s not?”, Nino asked.

“No. She and her mother had to go to London on business. They left last night and won’t be back for two days.”, Adrien replied. “So Kagami can’t have been the one who attacked you.”

Lila wanted to tear at her hair and scream; another plan ruined by a cruel twist of fate! At that moment, Marinette dashed into the room and promptly tripped over Lila’s school bag, hitting the floor with a yelp and a thud. A few people shook their heads fondly before going over to help her.

“Girl, you have got to start looking at your feet when you walk.”, Alya scolded her good-naturedly.

“Sorry! I just wasn’t expecting a school bag sitting on the threshold and…….. what on earth happened to your face, Lila?”, Marinette interrupted herself.

Lila glared at her other hated rival, then got an idea. Quickly, she shrank away from her.

“Please! Don’t hurt me anymore!”, she begged.

Marinette looked extremely confused, as did everyone else.

“Lila, what-?”, Alya began.

“I think I might have made a mistake! It was Marinette, not Kagami who did this to me!”, Lila wailed.

“ME?!”, spluttered Marinette.

A few people exchanged dubious glances and Nathaniel actually shook his head, completely refusing to believe it.

“Girl, I think you might have been confused by that bump to the head.”, Alya said. “No way could it have been Marinette. She’s too nice to hurt anyone.”

“I second that.”, Max supplied.

“Lila, are you absolutely sure it was Marinette?”, Ms. Bustier asked, sounding doubtful.

“Yes! My assailant was definitely Japanese!”, Lila wailed.

The atmosphere in the classroom changed instantly, dropping to frigid, and Lila was fixed with several angry and offended glares.

“What?”, she asked defensively.

“I never took you for a racist, Lila.”, Alix replied coldly.

“Racist?”, Lila asked.

Marinette advanced on her and Lila actually felt a stab of real fear at the anger on the baker girl’s face.

“Yes. Because I am not Japanese, I am Chinese!”, she said. “There’s a big difference!”

“Well not exceptionally, Marinette.”, Lila replied smoothly. “And aren’t you being a little judgemental yourself?”

“Excuse me?!”, Marinette snapped. “I am not racist! I do not think of Japanese people as being inferior or dirty, I just resent being mistaken for one when I’m not!”

“Marinette’s right!”, Kim piped up, looking angry. “My family’s Vietnamese, yet we keep getting told to “go back to China” by ignorant morons who don’t bother to learn that there are different Asian people. Um, no offence to you, Marinette.”

“It’s OK, Kim.”, Marinette replied. “I know what you meant.”

Lila glanced at Ms. Bustier, trusting that the teacher would take her side, but even she was looking cross.

“Lila, I think you owe your classmates an apology.”, she said sternly.

“Apologise? For what?”, Lila asked.

“For those rather…….. unseemly remarks.”, Ms. Bustier replied. “I understand you’re in pain and fear from being attacked, but that’s no excuse for accusing your classmate because she tangentially resembled your attacker.”

Lila wanted to spit in her face and refuse, but she realised that this situation had spiralled out of her control and made her the bad guy. Her standing with the class, the only thing she bothered to come to school for in order to maintain, was suddenly precarious. Who knew they were all so wholesome and socially conscious? 

“You’re right, Ms. Bustier.”, she said, and her injuries seemed to flare with renewed pain. “Marinette, I’m sorry.”

She half-hoped that Marinette would not accept it and turn her situation around, but the girl was too goody-goody.

“Apology accepted. And I hope it serves as a valuable lesson because not everyone will be as understanding as us if you do this again.”, she said.

Lila fought not to sneer, but she was saved from further torment by the arrival of the school nurse, who led her off. She had to hold an icepack to her swollen eye for several hours, which made it difficult to concentrate on anything. Furthermore, her little schtick with Marinette had gotten her the cold shoulder from the rest of the class and she actually had to carry her lunch and her schoolbag herself. The indignity! And to add insult to injury, Adrien told her shortly before school ended that their shoot for the afternoon had been cancelled. 

“What?!”, she shrieked loudly enough that people nearby winced. “Why?!”

“My father heard about your injuries and since they can’t be covered by make-up, he decided to postpone all future shoots between us for the foreseeable future.”, Adrien replied.

“Oh, but Adrien!”, Lila exclaimed. “Surely if your father’s make-up people are as good as he says they are, they’ll be able to make me look good as new. I actually know some make-up artists who-”

“Just, stop talking. Please.”, Adrien cut across her. “My father’s decision is final.”

Lila growled, then got a wicked idea.

“But surely you’d be able to persuade him otherwise, Adrien.”, she purred, stroking his chest with one finger. “Knowing what’s at stake if our little deal is broken.”

Adrien grabbed her wrist, not hard enough to hurt her but nevertheless quite firmly, and directed her hand away from him.

“No, Lila.”, he said. “I am not going to get into a futile argument with my father in getting you back on the modelling shoots, no matter what you say.”

“Then our deal will be off, and Marinette will suffer.”, Lila replied.

Adrien gave her a look of pure disgust.

“You really are a loathsome individual, aren’t you?”, he said. “Marinette, however, has been warned by me and Kagami to be exceptionally wary of you. And the teachers are alert after that little stunt you pulled with Kagami, so I advise you not to attempt anything.”

“Please. I’ll have them all back to eating out of the palm of my hand by the end of the month.”, Lila scoffed. 

Adrien rolled his eyes; Lila was a shallow, petty and cruel example of humanity and one he really hated dealing with. However, he knew better than to challenge or refuse his father……….. for now, at least. He reached into his bag and took out an envelope.

“What’s this?”, she asked, snatching it out of his hand.

“An invitation to the Gabriel ball.”, Adrien replied coldly. “A consolation prize, more or less.”

A ball? Oooooh, how wonderful! It would be brimming with high-society members, the people who mattered, all ripe for the taking if she could convince them to take her on. And this was something genuine she could boast about to her classmates. All of Marinette’s supposedly great accomplishments couldn’t hold a candle to this. And there was only one thing that could make it sweeter.

“You’ll be attending as well, won’t you, Adrien?”, she asked.

“Naturally.”, Adrien replied, sounding resentful and annoyed.

“Won’t you be needing an escort, then?”, Lila pressed. “A pretty lady to hang off your arm?”

She attempted to move in on him, but he danced backwards out of her reach.

“I’m taking Kagami.”, he said.

“Ugh. Her again.”, Lila sneered. “Why take that plain-faced, slant-eyed bitch?”

“Aside from what you just said, she happens to be my girlfriend.”, Adrien replied icily. “Boyfriends and girlfriends tend to do these sort of things together.”

“But, Adrien-”, Lila began.

“No, Lila.”, Adrien cut across her. “The ticket grants you a nice night out. Take that and like it.”

And before she could utter another word, he had turned on his heel and walked away. Lila was left gritting her teeth in anger; who would notice her properly if she arrived alone rather than on the arm of the son of Gabriel Agreste? No, all the focus would be on Kagami. And if the media began talking about how nice they looked together, Mr. Agreste might consider replacing her with Kagami. She had to get rid of her as soon as possible or everything she’d worked for, everything she rightfully deserved, would belong to Kagami.

“I’ll get her if it’s the last thing I ever do!”, she vowed furiously.

The ball would necessitate wearing something a little fancier than what she had in her wardrobe, so she went online and purchased a rather fetching dress in her favourite shade of burnt orange using her mother’s credit card. Her mother never paid her the attention she deserved, so she was taking this as payment for what she owed. She then proceeded to regale the class with the news that she would be attending the ball, something which amazed them all as per usual as they cooed over the dress. Well, most of them; Nathaniel winced at the colour and Marinette wanted to throw up at the design. She normally refrained from criticising people based on their style and personal appearance, but Lila clearly had no taste whatsoever. Despite Kagami being her primary target for now, Lila still found time to snipe at Marinette by implying that she had been wanting to approach her about a commission only to be too afraid of asking because of her dislike of her. This did net a few disapproving looks towards the bluenette, but Marinette had a rebuttal.

“I’m happy to take a commission from anyone, Lila.”, she said. “You have but to ask.”

“But you d-don’t like me for whatever reason.”, Lila said, faking upset. 

“And I don’t like Chloe either, but I was happy to make her that Queen Bee outfit last month.”, Marinette replied. “On commission, of course, but I won’t deny services based on personal opinion. But even if you had approached me, I wouldn’t have been able to because I already have a commission for the ball.”

This was evidently not news to most of the class, but Adrien spoke up and asked before Lila could.

“Who’s it for, Marinette?”, he asked.

“Kagami, of course.”, Marinette replied.

“Kagami?”, Lila spluttered before she could stop herself, earning a few odd looks.

“Yes.”, Marinette replied. “She approached me weeks ago and paid me to make her a dress for the ball. I obliged.”

“Oooooooh. What is it?”, Adrien asked eagerly.

“You’ll just have to wait and see.”, Marinette told him in a sing-song voice.

The class turned their attention to Marinette, asking her all sorts of questions about her work and whether or not she would be making it a thing, leaving Lila alone. This annoyed her at first, but then she realised that this was a golden opportunity to ruin both her rivals; if she could get Kagami at the ball in some way that tied into her dress, both Kagami and Marinette would be ruined. She could work with this in spite of her previous……………. less than successful attempts. A malignant grin split her face.

“Care to let us in on the joke, Lila?”, asked Kim’s voice, jolting her.

“Oh. Just looking forward to the ball, is all.”, Lila replied cheerfully.

“Right.”, Kim replied. “Just………….. you looked like someone plotting murder for a moment there.”

Lila gave a high, false laugh that didn’t quite hide her annoyance at the normally thick-headed and oblivious Kim. She’d have to be a bit more careful in the future if even that bonehead noticed the cracks in her mask. But she had a plan, a plan that would see her two enemies ruined and Adrien would at last be hers. All she had to do was wait.


	2. Chapter II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila tries once more to drive off Kagami at the Gabriel ball, and when the Japanese girl once more deflects her attempts, Lila goes much too far in retaliation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I warned you that Lila would be at her most loathsome in this story.

On the night of the ball, Lila put on the dress she’d bought and hidden in the back of her wardrobe, then rang a taxi to take her to the Grand Paris hotel (she had tried to wrangle a limousine out of Gabriel but he wasn’t willing to do so), grumbling all the way and refusing to tip the driver when she arrived. He cursed her in some foreign language she barely paid any attention to as she stalked up the red carpet, flaunting herself as much as possible. A large number of journalists were present, naturally including Nadja Chamack who seemed involved with virtually every press-related matter in Paris these days. Lila had previously considered trying to cosy up to her, but abandoned that idea once it became known that she was close friends with Marinette’s family. That might be a threat one day, if Marinette decided to mention Lila and her tales around the reporter. But for now, she was determined to enjoy the evening before moving on to the entertainment.

“And here we have Gabriel’s latest model, Lila Rossi, who has been appearing in several recent shoots with the designer’s son.”, Nadja said, gesturing towards Lila. “Ms. Rossi, would you care to tell us a little about your work as a model?”

Lila preened; an interview live on the news! Even Marinette couldn’t top this! Assuming her most innocent and starstruck look, she began to speak.

“Oh, it’s just wonderful, Nadja!”, she preened. “So few ever get the opportunity to work beside Adrien Agreste and I cannot possibly express what an honour it is!”

“I see.”, Nadja replied, cool as ice. “And what do you have to say about the fact that Gabriel sales figures and approval ratings have dropped slightly ever since you started? Is there a connection?”

“It’s of no great consequence, Nadja.”, Lila replied with a laugh. “Some people are just jealous and express it in such immature ways.”

She was secretly burning with rage on the inside at the question, a blow to her ego that could not be tolerated. But before she could continue speaking, Nadja’s attention was caught by something behind Lila and she pointed the cameraman to it.

“And arriving right now, as representative of his eternally reclusive father, is Adrien Agreste, accompanied by his girlfriend Kagami Tsurugi and her mother Tomoe!”, she said. “The Tsurugi clan are an established line of very prominent fencers and have recently entered into a business partnership with the Agreste family. Adrien is helping his girlfriend out of the car and- wow!”

As much as it was like a stab to the heart to admit, Nadja’s reaction was justified. Kagami emerged from the limousine clad in an absolutely stunning red kimono that shone and gleamed in the light of the flashing cameras. Though the primary colour was red, it had black and gold accents running across it's surface and on the hems and sleeves. On her feet she wore a pair of practical black heels and her eyes were covered by a red, black and gold mask. The whole thing was absolutely stunning and the crowd was going completely and utterly wild at it, even the group of shrieking fangirls who’d been fully prepared to boo and heckle the Japanese girl. Adrien himself, wearing a splendid suit of black velvet, politely kissed her hand before stepping aside to allow a third person to disembark the limousine. She could only be Kagami’s mother, Lila thought bitterly. The woman was not pretty, not at all, but she was captivating in other ways. She wore a kimono similar to her daughter’s, only in shimmering silver, and wore a pair of dark glasses. Lila snorted at the affectation.

“Tomoe Tsurugi was a champion fencer in her youth, winning over a dozen gold medals and trophies in every championship she participated in, and though blind her skills remain as razor-sharp as ever.”, Nadja went on.

Blind? That made things interesting, Lila thought to herself. As Adrien and the Tsurugis approached, Nadja held out her microphone towards them, ignoring Lila.

“Good evening, Adrien.”, she said politely.

“Hello, Nadja. Nice to see you again.”, Adrien replied. “How’s your daughter?”

“As much of a bundle of energy as always, Adrien.”, Nadja said. “Thank you for asking.”

Lila fought the wave of irritation at the loss of the newscaster’s attention, but Nadja was oblivious to her attempts to regain it.

“So, Adrien, please don’t be offended but the first question I have to ask is about your girlfriend’s dress.”, Nadja said.

“Oh, but I insist!”, Adrien replied, bowing out to let Kagami speak.

“This magnificent dress was a special commission of mine for the ball”, Kagami said.

“A commission from Mr. Agreste?”, Nadja asked.

Kagami smiled.

“Actually, no.”, she said. “This was from a friend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”, Nadja replied incredulously. “If I did not know the girl personally, I would not believe you. The craftsmanship and design is on par with a master designer!”

“That it is.”, said Tomoe Tsurugi. “My daughter commissioned one for me as well, as a gift, and whilst I was skeptical at the time, that vanished the moment I tried it on. Whilst I cannot see the design itself, the feel and flow of the garment is impeccable. The designer cannot be commended enough.”

“And, I can assure you, that is my mother’s highest praise.”, Kagami continued. “The dress allows for complete freedom of movement whilst also remaining formal.”

“Stylish and practical.”, Nadja remarked. “Impressive. And, forgive me, yours seems to evoke the costume you wore during your brief time as Ryuko, the Dragon heroine.”

“Well-spotted.”, Kagami replied with another smile. “A deliberate invocation. My tenure as a hero may have been short-lived, but I like the reminder.”

“Fair enough.”, Nadja conceded, before turning to Adrien. “What is your opinion on your companion’s dress?”

“Words cannot express, Nadja, and I know a lot of them.”, Adrien laughed. “I’ve already had experience with Marinette’s craftsmanship, the hat I wore during the debacle with Style Queen, but when I saw this I was utterly stunned.”

Lila’s teeth were so tightly gritted that her jaw was beginning to ache and her fingernails were starting to dig into the flesh of her palms. All the attention was on Kagami and all the praise was being heaped on Marinette. It was maddening!

“I see.”, Nadja said. “And will you be asking your father to have a look at Ms. Dupain-Cheng’s creations?”

“No comment on that one, Nadja.”, Adrien replied. “But you never know.”

By now the line behind them was beginning to get longer and the three bid Nadja goodbye before proceeding into the hotel itself. Lila attempted to regain Nadja’s attention, but she had moved on and didn’t even pretend to acknowledge her, and the doorman was pointedly asking her to move along because she was blocking the way. She wanted to snarl at him, but there was always a camera watching so she reluctantly filed in with the others. 

The ball was taking place in, shockingly enough, the ballroom, and was a pretty impressive set-up The cream of Parisian society had turned out for the event, as well as a large number of well-known designers, models and critics. The acidic tones of Audrey Bourgeois, the self-proclaimed Queen of Fashion, permeated the scene as she held court. Her husband and daughter were near her, but maintaining distance; not even they were safe from her caustic criticism. Lila, for her part, tried to latch onto or insert herself into conversations where the wealthiest and most notable were involved, but each of them rebuffed her or paid her only a modicum of attention. As she turned away from one group, she distinctly heard them mutter amongst themselves.

“That one’s a social climber if ever I saw one.”, one said.

“I know. About as subtle as a rhinoceros horn up the backside about it, too.”, replied another.

“And her style? Ugh! Burnt orange? And that hairstyle?”, said a third.

“And she thinks we haven’t seen a hundred of her kind before?”, a fourth remarked.

Her molten rage threatened to spill over like an erupting volcano as she stalked from one end of the ballroom to the other. Not a single person here noticed her or complimented her despite her status as a Gabriel model! Not only that but they had the nerve to criticise her style! How dare they?! Didn’t they know quality model material when it was staring them right in the face? Clearly not! Her eyes alighted on Kagami, standing with Adrien as they chatted politely with someone, and narrowed; the Japanese hussy was the one taking all the attention that rightfully belonged to her, arriving on the arm of Adrien who rightfully belonged to her.

“Stupid slant-eyed harlot!”, she growled angrily.

“And who would that be?”, asked a voice directly behind her. “Not my daughter, I hope?”

Lila jumped and spun around on her heel to find herself facing Kagami’s mother, her silver kimono sparkling like diamonds in the light of the chandelier. Her eyes were not visible behind the dark glasses but Lila got the impression they were boring right into her.

“Oh!”, she exclaimed in a high false tone that made the older woman flinch. “I don’t think you heard me correctly. I was actually saying-”

“Please, do not insult me.”, the woman said sharply. “I am blind, not deaf, though I find it both amusing and useful when people seem to equate the two as going hand in hand. As my eyes have ceased to work, so by default my other senses have adapted and strengthened to accommodate that loss. I heard every word.”

Lila suddenly felt very small in the face of this blind but formidable woman with seemingly supernatural hearing. Not putting her at ease was the fact that the woman was holding a cane that, on closer inspection, was actually a wooden sword that looked just as dangerous as it's metal counterpart.

“Judging by the Italian inflection and clear hatred towards my daughter, you must be Lila Rossi.”, Tomoe said.

Who was this woman? A freaking Jedi?! Lila was starting to get seriously freaked out.

“Whatever your daughter may have told you, I assure you it’s nothing more than filthy lies and-”, she began.

“Silence!”, Tomoe snapped. “Based on what my daughter has informed me of you, your word is as reliable as a poorly-produced katana; flimsy, inferior and like to snap the moment pressure is applied. She speaks of how you have designs on her boyfriend, of how you lie to and manipulate your classmates and how you attempt to sabotage and ruin the lives of those you dislike. Normally I wait and see, figuratively speaking, how accurate these accounts are but I can tell at a glance, again figuratively speaking, that you are indeed the viper in the grass she has described to me.”

Lila was attempting to edge away from her but the blind woman’s head followed her, those dark glasses revealing nothing and yet so much.

“Quite what Gabriel thinks he is doing hiring you to work for him in any capacity, much less involving his son, is beyond me and I shall be making that opinion known to him the next time I see him.”, Tomoe continued. “As for you, I suggest you stay out of the Tsurugi path before it ends up impaling you upon an unpleasant fate.”

And she stalked right past a stunned Lila, who was for once completely speechless. Nobody had ever made her feel that powerless and small before. Nobody had seen through her so clearly, even if this person was blind. She was too shocked to react in any way for a moment, but then there was a flash of red out of the corner of her eye and she saw Kagami bow to Adrien before heading in the direction of the ladies. A vicious snarl worked it's way across Lila’s face and she set off in pursuit, pausing only to snatch something off a table. Inside the ladies she found Kagami alone, washing her hands and facing away from her. The Japanese girl looked up and her eyes narrowed as she saw Lila’s reflection in the mirror.

“What?”, she asked, shaking her hands to dry them.

“You know what.”, Lila said. “Give up Adrien. This is your last chance to do so before I force you to.”

Kagami turned around to face her, a look of weariness and annoyance on her face. Lila took a few steps towards her.

“Are you still insisting on this silly little war?”, Kagami asked. “You’ve already failed twice in trying to get me and your little underlings are starting to notice who you really are. Quit while you’re ahead, is my advice.”

“Is that your final response?”, Lila asked.

“Yes.”, Kagami replied firmly.

“Very well, then.”, Lila said.

And she threw the contents of the wine glass all over Kagami’s front. The Japanese girl staggered backwards, looking down at her front in shock as red wine dribbled down it. Lila watched with a satisfied smirk.

“Oh, dear!”, she said in a tone of mock pity. “Your lovely Marinette dress is ruined! You’ll have to go home now and miss the rest of the ball. What a shame!”

Kagami let out a sharp exhale, then looked up at her……………….. and smirked.

“Is that all you’ve got?”, she asked.

Lila was stupefied; the wine should have ruined the dress and thus upset Kagami. But then she noticed that whilst the wine was dripping down the front of the red dress, it wasn’t staining it. What? How?

“That………………… that’s not possible!”, Lila said.

“Marinette excels in that.”, Kagami replied. “When I went to her to commission this dress, one thing I brought up was the possibility of making it stain-proof. Marinette came up with the idea of using a fabric composed of hydrophobic nanotechnology, which repels liquids. Add in a secondary defence layer of Scotchgard sprayed on it before coming and it’s effectively immune to any splashes or stains.”

Kagami now advanced on Lila.

“That girl may not take things like threats from you seriously, but when it comes to her commissions she does not skimp.”, she said. “Now, please, do not bother me again or you will sorely regret it.”

And she walked right past Lila, who was still holding the empty wine glass in a stunned stupor. As she stood there, she felt a sudden wetness down by her feet and, looking down, shrieked in anger as she saw the wine had spread across the floor and was now soaking into the hem of her dress. Quickly she backed away, but the damage was already done and scrubbing with toilet paper only made it worse. With a feral shriek she hurled the wine glass against the wall and it shattered, sending shards of glass everywhere. A few women burst in, looking around for the distressed person, but Lila stormed right past them and back into the ballroom, where her temperament was not helped by the sight of Adrien and Kagami dancing a waltz. She was now at the end of her rope and seriously considering just throwing it all to the wind and going at Kagami with a butcher knife…………….. except Kagami was probably a lot better with blades than she was and she might end up with that knife driven into her own sternum instead. As she stood there, contemplating her next move, her foot nudged something and she looked down to see that someone had put an ice bucket, the ice having long since melted for the most part, down on the floor whilst they ran to get more ice to fill it. At the same time she looked up and saw Tomoe Tsurugi approaching, then back down to the bucket and then a truly evil thought occurred to her. Kagami might have brushed off her declaration of war………………. but there was no such thing as innocents in war, and if you couldn’t get to your target directly, you went after those close to them who were more easily available.

“Brush this off, bitch.”, she whispered. 

As Tomoe drew level, she hooked one foot around the bucket and kicked it over before backing away to a close but not suspicious distance. Ice cold water flowed across the polished floor in front of Tomoe who, being blind, did not notice a thing until her right foot landed on the puddle………………

“What?!”, she shrieked as her foot suddenly shot out from under her.

Tomoe Tsurugi was far from helpless in spite of her condition, but she could still be (pun not intended) blindsided by things she did not expect. And what she did not expect was an obstacle in her path that her bokken-slash-cane could not easily detect or move out of her path. As such, she put her full weight down on the puddle of water which, combined with the well-polished floor, was like stepping on an ice rink without skates. Her feet shot out from under her and she fell heavily to the ground, her pelvic region striking the hard floor with the full force of her body weight. There was a loud snapping noise and she let out a cry of pain just as the rest of her landed just as heavily, causing her to strike the back of her head off the hardwood floor. Lying in an untidy heap, Tomoe Tsurugi let out one muffled groan and went limp. Cries of shock and concern from those closest had heads turning on the far side of the ballroom, but it was the shriek from the middle of the dance floor that really rattled everyone.

“MOTHER!!!!!”

Crying out in anguish and worry, Kagami Tsurugi leapt away from a startled Adrien Agreste to vault clear across the room and kneel by her mother’s prone body in the space of three seconds. Tomoe’s head lolled to the side and she did not reply to her daughter’s words; she was unconscious. Adrien came running over, his eyes going wide at the sight of the unconscious woman.

“What happened?”, he demanded, kneeling to comfort Kagami.

“I’m- I’m not sure.”, stammered a waitress. “She must have slipped, had an accident!”

Adrien looked down at Tomoe and saw, to his alarm, a small trail of red snaking it’s way across the floor from the back of her head.

“Call an ambulance! NOW!”, he bellowed, and several people jumped. “She’s bleeding from the head. Someone get me something to cushion her head with! Actually, hang on, that’s not right.”

Her dark glasses had fallen off, revealing her closed eyelids, and she was breathing slowly. Adrien gingerly inspected her, recalling from his training that one should normally move an unconscious victim into the recovery position, but one person had reported hearing a crack that could have been a bone breaking and if that was the case then moving her was too risky.

“Talk to her.”, Adrien said.

“What?”, Kagami asked.

“She might be unconscious but she can still hear you.”, Adrien replied. “Talk to her.”

Kagami didn’t see how this would be helpful, but obliged if only because she had nothing better to do. Heedless of the people gathered round her, she talked of everything she could think of; her ambitions for the future, her hopeful new friends at school, her opinions on that utter buffoon trying to depose Camilla Hombee as President, all of it. 

“Move aside. Move aside, please.”, said a voice.

The crowd parted to let a pair of paramedics in dark blue uniforms through, one carrying a stretcher. The older one of the two, a bald man with a small goatee, knelt down with the stretcher whilst his companion, a woman with bright green hair, examined Tomoe.

“She seems OK for now.”, she said. “Good job keeping her like this.”

“I took First Aid training.”, Adrien replied. “Father insisted.”

“Did he now? Smart man.”, the male paramedic remarked.

“You keep a cool head under pressure too, kid.”, the female paramedic said. “We’re always looking for people like that in this line of work, if you want.”

“Maybe.”, Adrien replied, looking a bit flattered.

With effortless professionalism the two paramedics loaded Tomoe onto the stretcher and carried her outside, where they placed her on a trolley and loaded her into the ambulance. Kagami made to follow but the male paramedic barred her, looking sorrowful.

“Sorry, kid. Emergency personnel only.”, he said. 

“Which hospital?”, Kagami asked.

“La Pitie Salpetriere, biggest hospital in Paris.”, the man replied.

“I will follow, then. Go.”, Kagami said.

The man shut the doors and the ambulance sped off, siren wailing and lights flashing. Kagami watched it go, reaching into the pocket of her dress and pulling out her phone, dialing a number.

“Tatsu, come to the front of Le Grand Paris Hotel.”, she said mechanically.

Tatsu was her mother’s state-of-the-art self-driving car, which Kagami had some limited control over. Adrien walked up to her.

“Kagami, I can go with you if you want.”, he said. “If you need a friend or……..”

“No thank you, Adrien.”, she replied. “I would like to handle this alone. You’ve already done enough, this is not your burden.”

“It’s not a burden, Kagami.”, Adrien replied. “I’m here for you because that’s what friends do.”

“Friends.”, Kagami remarked. “Yes, I suppose it is.”

“At least take this.”, Adrien said, wrapping his jacket around her shoulders. “It’ll keep you a bit warmer than if you’re just in that dress.”

“Thank you.”, Kagami replied, pulling it closer around her and trying to banish the image of her mother’s blood trickling across the floor.

Her mother’s blood. That scared her more than anything because she had never seen her mother bleed. Not ever. Seeing her like that, so vulnerable, had shaken Kagami far more than anything in her entire life. She had been certain, for one foolish moment, that her mother had been about to leave her forever and the thought of it, even now……………. she let out a sob and threw herself into Adrien’s arms. He jolted in surprise, not used to such a display of emotion from the normally stoic girl, but wrapped his arms around her and hugged her.

“I- I can’t lose my mother, Adrien.”, Kagami said in a heavy voice. “She’s all I have left. I can’t lose her!”

“I know, Kagami, I know.”, Adrien replied, tears rising in his own eyes. “I lost my mother and…………. it hurts. It hurts every day like you would not believe, and I don’t want anyone else EVER to feel that way. But your mother is a fighter, and she will fight her way back to health or my name isn’t Adrien Agreste. That’s a paw-mise.”

The pun made her giggle and forget her grief for the moment. Tatsu drove round the corner and pulled up in front of them. Kagami broke away from Adrien and wiped her eyes.

“Thank you, Adrien.”, she said. “I needed that.”

“You’re only human, Kagami.”, he replied. “These feelings don’t make you weak, they make you a person.”

He smiled once more before turning and walking back into the hotel, taking out his phone to call his father and inform him of what had happened. Kagami turned to the car, reaching for the door handle, when she heard another voice that was distinctly less welcome.

“Leaving already?”, Lila asked in a faux innocently sweet voice.

“For obvious reasons.” Kagami replied coldly. “And I wouldn’t bother asking Adrien to dance. He probably will not be in the mood.”

“Oh, well. There will be other opportunities.”, Lila remarked breezily.

“I doubt it.”, Kagami replied. “Now, excuse me.”

But as she opened the door, Lila suddenly leaned against it and slammed it shut, catching Kagami off-guard. Leaning in so it looked like she was merely a sympathetic friend giving some advice, Lila whispered to her.

“I told you we were at war.”, she said in a completely satisfied tone of voice. “See what your obstinacy has cost you if only you had given up Adrien.”

Kagami did not quite comprehend it at first, but then the message fully sank in and she went rigid with shock.

“Y-You caused that?”, she whispered.

“I told you what would happen if you didn’t back off.”, Lila replied dismissively. “It’s your own fault for not listening.”

“My………….. my mother.”, Kagami said in a shaking voice. “You went after my mother?”

“There are no innocents in war.”, Lila said with a dismissive shrug. “But I’m generous. I’ll give you some time to consider if you want to concede defeat or keep going, because this is just a warm-up action. See you.”

And with a fussy little “Hmph!” and self-satisfied tossing of her hair, Lila turned on her heel and walked away, leaving a frozen and stunned Kagami behind her. Kagami climbed into the car, moving as though on autopilot.

“Welcome, Ms. Tsurugi.”, said a cool electronic voice. “Please input destination voice command.”

“Salpetriere Hospital, Tatsu.”, Kagami replied just as robotically.

“Accepted.”, replied the voice.

The car began to drive, moving through the streets and navigating traffic as effortlessly and smoothly as a real human driver; only the best for a Tsurugi. Kagami sat in the back of the car, her mind whizzing at it went over what Lila had just told her. Her mother’s potentially life-changing, perhaps even life-threatening, injury had been deliberately caused by Lila………. just for the sake of pursuing a boy she probably didn’t like nearly as much as she put across. She had deliberately injured a blind woman to get what she wanted or to get petty revenge on a girl who had something she desired. Kagami had been right when she said that Marinette’s mistake had been not taking Lila’s threat seriously, but now she too had made a mistake in assuming that Lila would, in this misguided and foolish vendetta she’d dreamed up, only target Kagami directly. She had approached this from the Tsurugi point of view, where honour and integrity played a huge part in her life and any competition or rivalry was strictly one-on-one. She had not anticipated that Lila would be so devoid of these traits that she would also go after people associated with Kagami, a failing that had cost her dearly.

All of these realisations crashed together in her mind and blank shock was replaced with molten hot rage. Her fingers itched with the desire to take a katana and run Lila through with it up to the hilt, or wrapping themselves around the lying skank’s throat and squeezing until the light left those cold, green eyes. But this rage attracted other attention and Kagami remained almost completely unaware of a certain purple butterfly squeezing itself into the car’s luxury interior. Almost. As the akuma fluttered close to her, seeking an object to alight itself on and provide the link to it’s foul-intentioned master, Kagami’s head whipped around to stare at it with burning eyes that would make a Gorgon turn tail and run. The akuma halted and fluttered back a few inches, terrified.

“Go. Away.”, Kagami said to it in a voice as sharp and lethal as a sword.

The akumatised butterfly wanted to oblige, but a nudge from it’s master made it fly in close and land on Kagami’s mask, vanishing into it and turning it black. Kagami remained straight-backed as she felt the invasive presence of Hawk Moth enter her mind and heard his smooth voice purring in her ear.

“Ah, I remember you.”, Hawk Moth said. “Riposte or Oni-Chan, I wonder which to pick. Or perhaps something completely new, like a dragon to match the Miraculous that was so nearly mine-”

“I said. Go. Away.”, Kagami replied, cutting across him.

There was silence on his end for a moment and Kagami guessed that this was probably the first time a prospective victim had interrupted him before.

“I sense anger like I’ve rarely felt before. The anger of a person whose loved one has been hurt by a manipulative liar.”, Hawk Moth continued. “I can offer you the power to ravage this little liar and expose her for the world to see burn, in exchange for-”

“No.”, Kagami replied, hardly straining with the effort of resisting him.

“What?”, Hawk Moth asked in a tone of complete incredulity.

“I said no, a word you are probably unaccustomed to hearing given your reaction just now.”, Kagami told him crisply.

“But I can help-”, Hawk Moth tried to continue.

“No.”, Kagami said firmly. “I shall handle this on my own, with full control of my mental faculties and not with your poison in my ear and corrupted by your foul magic. You will back off whilst I am doing this, no matter how tempting my anger may be to you, and if you dare try and interfere again then I will personally track you down, drag you out of whatever hole you cower in and impale you onto the doors of City Hall with that cane of yours. Got it?”

She said the last words in a malevolent hiss that was chilling to hear, then took off the mask and crushed it in her hand. The akuma fluttered out of it and hovered in panic, seeking a way out and forgetting that it could phase through things until Kagami helpfully rolled the window down for it to escape through. A small nugget of pride rose in her as she realised she was probably the first person to actually succeed in telling Hawk Moth to piss off, and probably scaring the hell out of him to boot with how fast that akuma backtracked out of there. But she meant every word of what she had said; if she went after Lila as a vicious akuma out for her blood, Lila would simply play the victim card and paint Kagami as either a jealous bully or an unstable person who irrationally blamed her for her mother’s “accident”. No, this was a situation that required a more delicate and subtle approach. Not her strong suit, as she preferred to deal with things bluntly with no mummery or shilly-shallying, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do things that way. And she was also a clever person with a good sense for planning and tactical ability, and she already had the beginnings of a plan solidified as Tatsu pulled up outside the hospital.

“Find a place to park and wait there until I summon you.”, she said.

“Yes, Ms. Tsurugi.”, the electronic voice replied.

She stalked into the main reception area, drawing more than a few eyes as she was still dressed to kill, and up to the front desk where a rather tired-looking woman was sitting.

“Can I help you?”, she asked.

“I am Kagami Tsurugi.”, Kagami replied. “My mother Tomoe was brought in earlier.”

The woman typed something into her computer.

“Ah, yes.”, the woman said. “She’s in surgery right now for a broken hip and possible head trauma. If you’d like to take a seat feel free, but I don’t know how long it will take.”

“Just tell me when she’s out and do what you can. Thank you.”, Kagami replied.

Kagami sat herself down to wait, surrounded by other worried or bereaved people. Most were engrossed in their phones but a couple had books or newspapers to read and a few talked quietly amongst themselves, keeping one ear open for any news or call of their name. She hated waiting, hated the feel of not being in control, hated the feeling of helplessness which felt so alien to a girl who was always confident in herself and whatever she did or faced. Waiting was for people who were hesitant or lazy and she was neither, yet she had to wait. And the only thing that really worked in helping her to pass the time, training, was something she could not do here. So she sat and waited, watching the clock hands move with agonising slowness. Finally, as the hands moved towards half past midnight, a tired-looking doctor with red hair emerged into the room and called her name.

“What news?”, she asked bluntly.

“Good and bad.”, replied the doctor, whose badge identified her as Samantha Kurtzberg. “Her hip is fixed and, with physical therapy and plenty of rest, she should make a full recovery. However, she remains unconscious.”

“And this is the bad news?”, Kagami asked.

“Yes.”, Dr. Kurtzberg replied. “Head injuries are tricky and unpredictable. At this point there is little else to do but wait and see if she wakes up, but she is a strong and healthy woman, which is a good sign.”

“I see.”, Kagami replied. “Thank you, doctor.”

“I shall keep you informed of her condition and notify you immediately if there are any changes.”, Dr. Kurtzberg said. “But for now, I suggest you go home and get some sleep.”

“May I see her?”, Kagami asked.

“You may, but only for five minutes.”, Dr. Kurtzberg replied after a moment’s hesitation.

Kagami followed her to a private room two floors up, where she froze at the sight of her mother in a hospital bed, hooked up to a heart monitor and sleeping peacefully. A white bandage was on her head, tending the wound there.

“We’ve done all we can do from our end.”, Dr. Kurtzberg said. “It’s in the hands of forces greater and more mysterious than us now.”

“You mean God?”, Kagami asked, not being exceptionally religious.

“God, Allah, Zeus, Krishna, the Force.”, Dr. Kurtzberg replied. “Many names, same thing but all bring some measure of comfort and hope.”

“I place my faith in one’s own inner strength, personally.”, Kagami said.

Dr. Kurtzberg nodded briskly with an approving smile.

“I’ll leave you alone for a moment, I need to check with my colleagues about something.”, she said. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

“Thank you, doctor.”, Kagami replied.

The moment the door had closed, Kagami walked over to the bed. Seeing her mother, the strongest person she knew, lying there looking so silent and vulnerable was horribly rattling. A brave and determined warrior laid low by an act of petty cruelty and cowardice that neither mother nor daughter had seen coming. Her thoughts went to Lila and the molten rage returned, clouding her vision red briefly before fading to a simmer. She would not be a volcano that tore itself apart with it’s own rage; she would be a forge that took that rage and shaped it into a blade that would slice through that liar like an overripe fruit and expose the rotten core to the whole world. She took her mother’s hand, stroking the back of it.

“I promise you, Mother, I will get back at the person who has done this to you.”, she said. “My retribution will be as elusive as the wind, as powerful as the flood, as swift as lightning. Just like the great Tomoe Gozen. And just like you.”

Kagami was not a person given over to fanciful notions, but for a second she could have sworn her mother’s hand squeezed down on her fingers. She knew conclusively, however, that her mother’s spirit had heard her and was with her. The door opened and Dr. Kurtzberg entered the room.

“Time’s up, I'm afraid.”, she said. “Visiting hours are 10AM to 6PM, so feel free to return tomorrow. I’ll call you if there’s any progress otherwise.”

Kagami nodded to indicate her thanks, then peered curiously at the woman. She seemed oddly familiar, yet they had never met before now.

“What?”, the doctor asked. “Did I spill coffee on my shirt again?”

“No.” Kagami replied. “Forgive me, but you remind me of someone I can’t quite place.”

Dr. Kurtzberg smiled.

“Perhaps you’ve met my son, Nathaniel?”, she suggested. 

Kagami thought to herself. There was a Nathaniel in Adrien’s class, now that she thought about it, and her classmate Marc had recently gotten himself a boyfriend with that name as well.

“Very short, wears purple jeans, one eye always hidden and constantly drawing in a sketchbook?”, she asked.

“To a T.”, Dr. Kurtzberg replied, laughing fondly. “I don’t get to see him as often as I should, certainly not as much as I’d like, but his art occupies most of his time anyway. Well, his art and his boyfriend.”

Kagami laughed, then bid Dr. Kurtzberg goodbye and headed downstairs, alerting Tatsu to pick her up at the front. As Tatsu drove her home she thought hard to herself, wondering just how to put her retribution against Lila into play. The girl was crafty, certainly, and was good at manipulating people’s emotions into siding with her whenever anyone confronted her over her lies, but she was not nearly as smart as she thought she was. She overplayed her hand whenever she thought she had the upper hand and lashed out viciously whenever she lost the advantage; either one had to make her slip up somewhere. She had no proof that Lila had caused her mother’s accident, aside from the liar’s own word and she was highly unlikely to confess it to anyone else, but she knew that she was an extremely prolific liar who boasted of these things to her classmates. She could disprove them all if she knew what they were specifically, especially if it involved trying to sponge off other people’s fame. The Tsurugi family were well-acquainted with a lot of prominent celebrities who would not be very happy to hear that someone was abusing or besmirching their good name.

“A storm is coming for you, Lila Rossi.”, she said to herself as she settled down in her bed.

======================================================================

Kagami rose bright and early the next day as always, having long since disciplined herself to rise on the dot of 7:30, and got ready for school. She checked her phone for any update from the hospital, but there was nothing. After a quick breakfast she called Tatsu and drove to school, resolving to talk to Marinette about Lila and her lies and also to thank her for the dress. She had retrieved her mother’s before leaving the hospital and it was now hanging up in her wardrobe, awaiting her return. Adrien had sent her a text, asking if she was coming to school because he could explain to Mr. D’Argencourt about the situation, but she sent one back confirming her attendance. She was planning on bringing him into the situation as well, because as infuriatingly naive and good-hearted that he was, he really did not like anyone messing with those he cared about. At first she had been considering leaving him out of it, but Lila changing the rules to involve people around her had thrown that clear out the window. And Adrien needed to learn that some people were just beyond redemption and deserved to be taken down. She found him waiting for her by the front steps, looking both worried and angry.

“What’s wrong?”, she asked him.

“My father.”, Adrien replied. “He showed up at breakfast to remind me to ask you for my suit’s jacket back. Not a request to pass on condolences or ask about your mother, to ask for that stupid jacket.”

“He is a cold-hearted bastard indeed.”, Kagami replied.

The look of startled incredulity on Adrien’s face was hilarious to behold, following a somewhat guilty-sounding laugh.

“Cruel, but good word use.”, he said.

As they entered the courtyard, Kagami’s eyes became slits as she saw Lila, sitting on the metal stairs and regaling Adrien’s classmates with something probably false. The Italian’s own eyes narrowed as she saw her, but then widened in surprise as the kids surrounding her spotted Kagami and made a beeline for her as one.

“Kagami!”, Alya said, reaching her first. “You looked absolutely magnificent in that dress! Now I understand why Marinette refused to spill; I wouldn’t have been able to keep quiet!”

“Amazing!”, Rose squealed, clutching Juleka’s hand and bouncing up and down.

“Awesome.”, Juleka mumbled, smiling shyly.

“You rocked, dudette! Totally rocked!”, Nino whooped.

Kagami, not used to such attention, was momentarily stunned. Then she saw Lila glowering at her for stealing away her followers and a smile grew on her face.

“Thank you.”, she replied. “Although, all I did was wear it. Marinette deserves the true adulation.”

The class rolled their eyes.

“Oh, great. She’s modest as well!”, Alix said.

“Now we have to convince both her and Marinette to accept the praise!”, Kim exclaimed.

Kagami watched them with a mixture of amused puzzlement.

“Sadly, I did not get to wear it for the whole evening.”, she said. “My mother had an accident and had to be taken to hospital.”

At once they stopped chattering and looked horrified.

“Oh my God!”, Mylene exclaimed. “I’m so sorry!”

“Is she all right?”, Max asked.

“She has a broken hip and a concussion, but is healing well.”, Kagami replied.

She turned to Nathaniel, who had been saying hello to a just-arrived Marc.

“I met your mother last night at the hospital.”, she said.

“Oh. Really?”, he asked, slightly confused.

“She was the doctor who operated on my mother and is looking after her.”, Kagami replied. “She is a good woman.”

“Yes, she is.”, Nathaniel said, slightly defiantly; he loved his mum even if he rarely saw her.

“She also told me to convey a message.”, Kagami said.

“What message?”, Nathaniel asked.

Kagami smiled at him and instead beckoned to Marc, who she knew fairly well. He came over and she whispered something in his ear, causing his eyes to widen in surprise.

“Really?”, he asked, smiling.

Nathaniel, looking slightly panicked, seized his boyfriend by the front of his hoodie.

“Marc, what did she just tell you?”, he asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

“Oh, nothing.”, Marc replied. “Nathy-kins.”

Nathaniel went as red as his hair.

“I am so going to kill her!”, he said under his breath.

“Nathy-kins!”, Alix remarked, looking amused and indignant. “You never told me that! I thought I was your best friend!”

“You may be soon regaining that title.”, Nathaniel muttered, glaring at an unrepentant Marc.

Kagami took advantage of the distraction to drag Adrien and a recently-arrived Marinette off in the direction of Ms. Mendeleiev’s empty classroom, locking the door securely behind her.

“Is something wrong?”, Marinette asked, not in on the loop just yet.

“Yes.”, Kagami replied. “I need to talk to you about Lila.”

Marinette glanced very nervously at Adrien before replying.

“What about her?”, she asked.

“She’s been trying the same thing on me as she was trying on you.”, Kagami replied. “And last night, she went too far.”

Adrien looked confused, thinking back, and then he got a horrible idea. Could Lila have……..? No. No person was that evil.

“What did she do?”, Marinette asked. “Was it the dress?”

“No. Well, she did throw a glass of wine on me but the fabric you used worked like a charm.”, Kagami replied. “No. Lila put my mother in the hospital.”

Marinette’s whole body went rigid.

“What?”, she whispered.

“Last night, my mother slipped on a puddle of water and is now in the hospital comatose and with a broken hip.”, Kagami said. “I thought it was a horrible accident until Lila came up to me as I was leaving for the hospital and told me she’d done it. She kicked a bucket of water over into the path of a blind woman……….. just to get me to break up with Adrien so she could then have him all to herself.”

Marinette was still rigid, but her pale face was turning steadily redder like she was being filled with boiling water, both fists clenched tightly at her sides. As for Adrien, he had gone a nasty grey colour like old porridge and he seemed to be on the verge of throwing up. 

“Lila did that?”, he asked shakily. “Because of me?”

Kagami wanted to comfort and shake some sense into him, but Marinette got there first.

“Now you listen to me, Adrien Agreste!”, she said firmly. “You are in no way responsible for what that lying sociopath did. Do not go blaming yourself and feeling guilty because I’ve been there, and it took a lot and a long time for me to realise it.”

“Marinette is right, Adrien.”, Kagami chipped in. “Lila made the conscious choice to hurt my mother and she and only she is responsible for that.”

It was a difficult pill for Adrien to swallow; he was such a nice and kind boy that it sometimes worked against him, as it was doing so now. 

“I hate this life sometimes.”, he said. “The life of Adrien Agreste, the model, the golden boy, the only face most people see. It makes me wealthy and famous, sure, but it doesn’t make me happy. It makes me ridiculously lonely and naive because I was homeschooled for years. It makes me adhere to a schedule so rigid an iron bar is more flexible, where I have to fill out a form just for the chance I might see my father at dinner. It makes me unable to set foot in the open air without being mobbed by people who love me only for my fame. And, now, worst of all, it makes people hurt others in pursuit of me. And I’m tired of it. So very tired.”

“Oh, Adrien.”, Marinette said softly.

The boy buried his face in his hands and his body shook with not-so-suppressed sobs. Marinette ached to go and comfort him, but was clearly hesitant given his present relationship with Kagami and her own conflicted feelings.

“You may hug him.”, Kagami said.

“But you-”, Marinette began.

“Are less suited to offering comfort than you.”, Kagami replied briskly.

There was no arguing with that, and Marinette wrapped a comforting arm around the crying Adrien whilst Kagami continued to plot.

“At first I was intending to handle Lila on my own, believing that she would come after me and only me.”, she said. “I was wrong. But Lila still believes I will play by the same rules as before. I will not. That’s where you two come in.”

Adrien, eyes red and face blotchy, looked up.

“Come in where?”, he asked.

Kagami fixed him with a steely glare.

“In my plan to take down Lila.”, she said.

“What do you have in mind?”, Marinette asked.

Adrien looked at her in surprise, but she beat him to the punch.

“I know we agreed to take the high road and not expose her, but I can’t do that anymore.”, she said. “Lila’s beyond redemption if she was willing to hospitalise a blind woman just to get at her daughter. And she’s willing to threaten people who call her out on her lies, like me and Kagami. So-”

“She did what?”

Marinette went quiet and even Kagami was taken-aback at the flat tone Adrien’s voice suddenly took on.

“She did what?”, he repeated, still in that unnervingly flat tone.

“Um…….. she threatened me.”, Marinette replied.

“When and where?”, Adrien asked.

“In the bathroom here at school, shortly after she came back to school.”, Marinette replied. 

“What was the nature of this threat?”, Adrien asked.

“She……. threatened to take all my friends away from me and leave me all alone.”, Marinette replied. “Basically destroy my life if I didn’t fall in line with her lies.”

Adrien didn’t reply for a while after that, instead going rigid and staring at the opposite wall with a blank face……….. except for his eyes, which had become hard and cold as emeralds and seemed to have fire blazing in them. Marinette actually backed away a couple of inches and even Kagami felt unsettled.

“I see.”, Adrien said finally. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

“I-I wanted to, but then you gave me that advice about taking the high road and-”, Marinette began.

“That was what I thought was good advice for someone just dealing with lies.”, Adrien replied. “If I’d known she’d threatened you just to maintain those lies, I would never have told you to do that.”

The anger of him was palpable, and scary because he never got that angry.

“I never thought I would say this, but that girl is just plain and pure evil.”, he said. “And she needs to go down.”

“So you’re onboard with my plan?”, Kagami asked.

“What do you have in mind?”, Marinette asked again.

Kagami told them.

==================================================================

Kagami, though worried about her mother, was nevertheless able to keep her full concentration in lessons that day. Ms. Mendeleiev, in a moment of rare sympathy, had offered to give Kagami a grace period from studying for the next test but the Japanese girl had declined; it would keep her from worrying constantly about the what-ifs and, in any case, her mother would never forgive her if she let her grades slip even slightly. A Tsurugi weathered the storm no matter how hard the wind blew and the waves crashed. Her classmates were also sympathetic, though also dumbfounded that she would turn down leniency from the strictest teacher in the school. She had to strongly discourage Jean Duparc from “accidentally” knocking his younger brother down the stairs in the hopes of prompting Ms. Mendeleiev’s mercy on his physics homework. As lunch rolled around she went over to a quiet part of the courtyard, took out her laptop and began to do some work. She kept her ears pricked up for anyone approaching and her eyes narrowed as she heard the sound of a familiar pair of boots stalking towards her.

“What do you want, Lila?”, she asked, not looking up.

“Still intent on keeping Adrien for yourself, I see.”, Lila remarked. “Are you so selfish that you’ll still let people get hurt until you give him up?”

Kagami did not envy the psychologist who ended up examining Lila upon hearing that sentence. This girl’s mind twisted logic into pretzels to justify her immoral actions against people for ultimately petty reasons.

“That sentence illustrates so many things that are wrong with you.”, she replied coldly. “I cannot prove it was you who hurt my mother, but rest assured that does not mean I’ll forget it. You’ve lied about quite a few things, including where you’ve been during your highly conspicuous absence for most of the previous school year and about a number of very well-known names. Not to mention stringing your classmates along with promises you can’t fulfil and disabilities you don’t have, which a lot of people will not be happy about when they find out.”

“You thinking of trying to expose me?”, Lila sneered. “Just try it. I’ve got this school wrapped around my little finger and all I need to do is make up a few sob stories about you bullying me and they won’t even give you the time of day.”

“You’ve tried that already and it didn’t work.”, Kagami replied.

A smirk crept across her face as Lila scowled in fury: she hated being reminded of past failures, not that she saw them as failures.

“Then perhaps I need to switch to a different tactic.”, Lila said. “Whoever you talk to, I’ll assume they’re against me and I will go after them. You think Marinette will last long after her parent’s bakery winds up closed down for health violations reported to the council? Or Aurore staying a weather girl after a little scandal shows itself?”

Kagami fought down a wave of revulsion and horror as she listened. These were people’s livelihoods and dreams she was talking of ruining, yet she showed only sadistic delight in bringing it about. One thing was for sure, she had to bring her down before any other people suffered her misguided wrath.

“You’re a monster.”, Kagami retorted with a snarl.

“No. I’m just savvy enough to realise how the world works.”, Lila replied. “Take whatever you can from whoever you can get it from by any means necessary.”

“That is not how the world works, and people who operate like you end up in prison.”, Kagami said.

“As if!”, Lila snorted. “I’ll give you till tomorrow to decide if you care about your friends enough to spare them from me.”

And with that annoying little “hmph!” and toss of her hair, she was stalking away. Kagami’s fists clenched in fury as she watched the other girl walk away and restrained herself from chucking a stone at the back of her head. She bent her head back to her work, but raised it at the sound of approaching heels and scowled heavily as she saw the overly dolled-up figure of Chloe Bourgeois.

“What do you want?”, she snapped, not in the mood.

“Oh, well then maybe I won’t help you if you’re being so rude.”, Chloe replied.

“There is nothing you have I could want, least of all your help.”, Kagami snapped.

“That’s what you think.”, Chloe replied, fiddling with her phone.

Kagami felt her own phone vibrate in her pocket and brought it out to find Chloe had just sent her a text message. She opened it, fully prepared to roll her eyes and scoff…………. and her jaw dropped. Contained in the text message was a video, and not just any video. It was showing the ball from last night, specifically Lila looking very angry before turning to an evil grin and kicking over the ice bucket to cause the spill that Tomoe slipped on. There was no doubt about what Lila had done in this video and Kagami was, for once, rendered speechless.

“So, still don’t feel like you need my help?”, Chloe crowed triumphantly.

“How? H-How did you get this?”, Kagami asked.

“I was checking my reflection in the screen when I saw Rossi looking even uglier than usual.”, Chloe replied. “Well, I wasn’t going to let that precious moment go without a memento and I tried to take her picture, only I set it to record a video instead. Lucky that I did, wasn’t it?”

A surge of triumph rose in Kagami; this was better than she could have hoped for in regards to evidence. Then that surge halted and she glared at Chloe suspiciously.

“Wait a second. There’s no way you’re just giving this to me out of the goodness of your heart.”, she remarked. “What’s the catch?”

Chloe smirked and clapped sarcastically.

“Perceptive.”, she said. “But there’s no catch.”

“I don’t believe you.”, Kagami replied. “You don’t like me, so why should I believe you?”

“Oh, you wound me with such accusations!”, Chloe proclaimed dramatically.

“Just get to the point, what’s the catch?”, Kagami asked.

“No catch.”, Chloe insisted. “Call it mutual convenience.”

“Really?”, Kagami asked. “And what do you get out of it?”

Chloe shot a glance over at where Lila was holding court, said court including Chloe’s usual lackey Sabrina, before looking Kagami in the eye.

“Look, I don’t like you. Not even a little.”, she said. “But I hate her. What’s that old saying? ‘The enemy of my enemy-’”

“-is my friend.”, Kagami finished.

“Right.”, Chloe replied. “I’m giving you this because Rossi needs to be put in her place, nothing more and nothing less.”

“That is agreeable.”, Kagami said. “Thank you.”

Chloe stalked off, already bored and disinterested in her, and Kagami returned her attention to her work. She had asked both Adrien and Marinette to provide a full list of everything Lila had lied about, and was in the process of thoroughly debunking each and every single one. She had already commented anonymously on the Ladyblog about the veracity of Lila’s claim to be Ladybug’s best friend, citing that given the heroine’s extreme protection of her identity it would be unlikely for her to let any friends she might have in her civilian life in on the secret. It had been immediately seized upon by other viewers who thought the same thing and, judging by the extremely confused and suspicious looks Alya was shooting at Lila whilst she worked on her phone, it seemed to have resonated with the reporter. Kagami knew her credibility and ego would take a huge blow with this, but she wasn’t extremely sympathetic as it was on her for not verifying the source. Hopefully she would learn her lesson, because that failure aside she was a good journalist and deserved a second chance. She resumed her research for the remainder of school and by the time it ended, had it all securely filed away and ready to be presented to the relevant authority figures. Even leaving aside the assault on her mother, Lila had done a lot of things with serious legal consequences; truancy, slander, libel, blackmail, stalking, harassment and bullying. Oh, yes, she was in a whole heap of trouble that not even diplomatic immunity, if she even had that, could get her out of. If Lila truly wanted to tangle with the Tsurugi clan, on her own head be it. The moment Tatsu arrived to pick her up, Kagami ordered him to set course for the hospital. She strode into the lobby with greater dignity than before and was quickly shown up to her mother’s room. As she approached, Dr. Kurtzberg emerged from it looking even more tired than before, but smiling as she saw Kagami approach.

“Ah, Ms. Tsurugi.”, she said. “Hello again. I was just checking on your mother.”

“How is she?”, Kagami asked.

“Sleeping peacefully.”, Dr. Kurtzberg replied. “Her head wound is healing nicely, but it’s up to her if and when she wakes up.”

“Thank you.”, Kagami said, bowing.

“I must dash.”, Dr. Kurtzberg said. “I’m going home for some rest, but your mother is in good hands and I won’t be away for long.”

The poor woman looked on the verge of falling asleep on her feet and Kagami wondered if she, like her son from Marc’s testimony, got so caught up in her work that she sometimes forgot she was human and needed to rest and recharge every once in a while. Kagami stepped around her and entered the room where her mother was, true enough, sleeping peacefully. Kagami reached into her bag and took out a pair of dark glasses and a pair of fake, scented flowers; cherry, her mother’s favourite scent. She placed these on the bedside cabinet, then sat down in a chair.

“Hello, Mother.”, she said. “I’m hoping you’re well. Or at least, better than last time.”

No reply save for the beeping of the machines. Kagami took a deep breath.

“The girl who did this to you, the foul, evil, cruel, pathetic excuse of a human being, will soon pay for it.”, she said, not quite managing to restrain her anger. “I have spent the entire afternoon looking up every single lie she has ever uttered, as well as contacting those celebrities she’s claimed to know and undermining her at school by pointing out how a few of her stories don’t quite line up with each other. I know you raised me to be direct, to face every obstacle head-on, but this girl knows nothing of honour. To confront her directly merely results in her turning on fake tears to gain sympathy from those around her, so a more indirect approach is needed.”

She paused to take a sip of water, which is why she did not notice Tomoe’s eyelids flutter.

“What is more, I have video evidence of her causing you to fall.”, she went on. “Ironically it comes from that Chloe Bourgeois, but in her own words: ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’”

She was silent for a moment, then reached forward and took her mother’s hand.

“I’m scared, Mother.”, she said. “Not of Lila, no. I’m scared of losing you. You raised me to be strong and I’ve tried to be that, but I just……… am scared to lose you so soon. It’s silly and you’d be furious with me if you could hear me talking like this, but it’s there. But I promise, I will work through this. This will not take me down.”

She kissed the back of her mother’s hand and left the room. The room remained silent and unchanged, then a smile crept across Tomoe’s face.

“Well done, Kagami.”, she said. “Well done.”

Kagami, blissfully unaware of her mother’s return to consciousness, returned home and went to bed after dinner, determined to be as fresh as possible for tomorrow. There remained the risk that Lila would attack her and she wanted to be well-rested. That, and she had a stop to make before going to school, so she had to rise early. When she did, she took a light breakfast and summoned Tatsu to the front of the house.

“Good morning, Ms. Tsurugi.”, he said politely. “Please input destination voice command.”

“51 Rue de Varenne.”, Kagami replied. “And please make haste.”

As the car set off, Kagami smirked. You want to play by different rules, Lila? Fine. Two can play at that game. And you’re about to be checkmated.

==================================================================

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Lila crosses the Moral Event Horizon by attacking Kagami's blind mother and putting her in the hospital. In Lila's twisted mind, anyone associated with those she deems an enemy are themselves targets and she has no qualms with hurting said people to get at her main target. I consulted with my grandmother when writing this, as she is a retired nurse, for maximum medical accuracy.
> 
> Lila's attempts to flaunt herself at the ball fail miserably. That's my own petty side working through because nothing can go right for this awful girl and whilst I refrain from insulting people based on personal appearance, those designers and critics are not so restrained.
> 
> The bit with Kagami's Marinette dress is something I'm particularly proud of. The hydrophobic nanotechnology is a real thing and is liquid and stain-proof. Wine-proof may be pushing it a bit, along with the Scotchguard treatment, but it's within the realms of possibility. Marinette is nothing if not thorough when it comes to her commissions and given her tendency to panic over trivial things that might or might not happen, liquid and stain-proofing the dress was something she deemed properly paranoid. In the words of Edna Mode, "Luck favours the prepared."
> 
> Chloe. Oh, Chloe. I think this is perfectly in-character for her. She doesn't like Kagami out of jealousy for her closeness with Adrien, but she absolutely hates Lila for her taking away all the attention and being all handsy with Adrien. And hatred of one person can put aside dislike for others. So Chloe has no intention of being friends with Kagami or reducing hostilities, only helping her because she hates Lila more than she dislikes Kagami.
> 
> Kagami will deal with this herself rather than doing it as an akuma, because that would play right into Lila's hands and she could play the victim. Hawk Moth will be taking Kagami's threat seriously because he knows she's stubborn, determined and clever enough to carry it out. She scared him.


	3. Chapter III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion of the three-part story involves the coveted downfall of Lila Rossi that you, dear readers, live for. So, let's not dilly-dally.

Adrien was rather worried as he arrived at school as, despite his commitment to taking down Lila, he was still wary of her getting akumatised and going after Kagami. Then again, it might be cathartic to give Volpina a good thrashing after learning about what she’d been trying to do. Lila was perhaps even worse than Hawk Moth, and that was saying something! As he strolled towards the front steps, he spotted Marinette crossing the street and waved to her.

“Morning, Marinette.”, he said.

“Morning, Adrien.”, she replied.

She no longer stuttered when he spoke to her, something which he was glad about. Maybe she just got nervous about something in the past.

“Did Kagami tell you about what she was planning to do?”, Marinette asked.

“No, only that she’d be going to the highest authority with what she’d found.”, Adrien replied. “I don’t know what that means, but things don’t look good for Lila.”

Things already weren’t going well for Lila that morning anyway. She’d checked the Ladyblog as per usual, to check that her latest interview had been posted, only to find that all of them had been pulled pending “official verification”. When she’d interrogated Alya about it, the reporter had been uncharacteristically terse with her and only said that she’d pulled them down to double-check with Ladybug about whether or not it was safe to keep them up, as people might exploit her status as Ladybug’s best friend to get to the heroine. Lila had tried to convince her that she and Ladybug had already spoken about it and she’d agreed, but Alya was unusually obstinate and refused to reinstate the videos until she got confirmation personally from Ladybug. This had angered Lila to such a degree that she’d been tempted to set aside Kagami and Marinette to go after Alya, only relenting once she realised that the budding reporter was key to her grip on the others. To compound the annoyance, no akuma had showed up despite focusing her rage. She scowled as she saw Adrien walk in with Marinette, both in deep conversation. She toyed with the idea of snapping a photo of them to leak to a few prominent tabloids, start a rumour about Adrien cheating on his girlfriend with a gold-digger wannabe designer who was using him as her meal ticket, but decided against it; Mr. Agreste probably wouldn’t tolerate it and he was the one to impress. Class began and Ms. Bustier took the register, then said Adrien’s name.

“Adrien, Ms. Mendeleiev stopped me on my way up here to tell me that Kagami wasn’t in her class when she took attendance.”, she said. “Do you know where she is?”

“No, Ms. Bustier.”, Adrien replied. “All she told me was that she needed to attend to some important business this morning.”

“I see.”, Ms. Bustier replied. “Well, if she contacts you again please let her know that Ms. Mendeleiev is looking for her.”

“I will, Ms. Bustier.”, Adrien said.

Lila fumed internally; if Kagami wasn’t showing up today, that yet again jeopardised one of her plans for getting rid of her; that boy with the rainbow shirt she’d seen her talking to was a good target. Maybe she’d cause him to trip and fall down the stairs. Or she could just move forward with the plot against Marinette, so that the day wasn’t totally wasted. Lila blanked out what Ms. Bustier was saying as she focused on her wicked schemes.

“Now, today we move on to discussing the importance of propaganda throughout history.”, Ms. Bustier said. “Can anyone tell me-?”

BANG!!!!!

The classroom door exploded inwards with such force that the glass window cracked and one of the wooden panels splintered as it hit the wall with an explosive noise. Ms. Bustier and several people shrieked (Kim would later fervently deny being responsible for the girliest shriek in the room) and Marinette and Adrien both sprang into combat-ready positions, anticipating an akuma. But it was not an akuma that stood on the threshold. A woman, in her late thirties, very well-dressed and with a pretty and kind face that was now black as a thundercloud.

“LILA ROSSI!”, she thundered.

Lila went stark white.

“Mama?”, she whispered, horror-struck.

The woman, evidently Mrs. Rossi, strode into the room and fixed her daughter with a glare that could have melted steel.

“I have never been more angry, humiliated and disgusted in my life!”, she said. “Explain yourself! Now!”

Lila quailed under her mother’s furious gaze, as well as the suspicious and accusatory ones coming from her classmates. Ms. Bustier, ever the mediator, decided to step in.

“Is there a problem, Mrs. Rossi?”, she asked.

Mrs. Rossi turned burning eyes on the teacher.

“Oh, many problems.”, she said. “Starting with the fact that my daughter has been lying to me for nearly the entire time we’ve been in Paris and about a multitude of things, including the fact that the school has been open all this time when she had me believing that it was closed for months because of the akumas, which the supposedly incompetent and lazy Ladybug and Cat Noir were unable to handle.”

A few people hissed and Alya, Marinette and Adrien turned to look at Lila with expressions of murder.

“Ladybug incompetent?!”, Alya snarled. “How dare you?! She’s the only reason Paris is still intact rather than being a devastated ruin!”

“And Cat Noir’s not lazy!”, Marinette raged. “He throws himself into every situation with the full dedication and spirit of a true hero!”

She missed the heartfelt look on Adrien’s face as she said that, but Mrs. Rossi had more to say.

“The heroes are not the only things I’ve been misinformed about by my dear daughter.”, she said. “Her supposed boyfriend, Adrien Agreste, is not only already in a relationship but been enduring Lila’s attempts to split them up so she can move in on him, including threatening said girlfriend.”

“N-No!”, Lila protested, finding her voice. “It’s all lies, Mama! You’re being deceived!”

“Indeed I am!”, Mrs. Rossi replied. “By you! And how much longer would I have been deceived if it weren’t for this young lady?”

Another person entered the room and Lila was shocked to see it was Kagami. The Japanese girl went to stand beside Mrs. Rossi, who gave her a look that mixed apology with gratitude.

“Y-You went and told my mother?”, Lila stammered, unable to comprehend that she’d been blindsided.

“There are no innocents in war, Lila.”, Kagami parroted in response. “You said that yourself, after you made my blind mother slip and injure herself.”

There was a dangerous silence as heads swiveled as one to look at Lila.

“You did what?”, Juleka said in a malevolent hiss that chilled to the bone.

“I didn’t do anything to your mother!”, Lila protested. “It was an accident!”

“LIES!!!”, thundered Mrs. Rossi. “I didn’t want to believe this girl when she came to the embassy this morning and told me all of this, but then she showed me video evidence of this unspeakable crime!”

“What video evidence?”, Lila asked, very afraid.

“Oh, you mean this?”, Chloe said cheerfully.

Chloe had been watching this with unrepentant glee and, eager to pour salt on the wound, linked her phone to the class projector. The video popped up, showing Lila glowering at Kagami in the ballroom, then kicking the bucket of water over with a malignant smile and watching with clear satisfaction as the clearly blind Tomoe slipped on the puddle and crashed heavily to the floor. Mrs. Rossi closed her eyes and her nostrils flared as she exhaled sharply, whilst noises of shock, disgust and fury emanated from the classmates.

“You tripped a blind woman?!”, Alix demanded in a dangerous voice. 

“Of course I didn’t!”, Lila protested. “Chloe’s clearly faked that video to slander me!”

“Markov!”, Max snapped.

“Yes, Max?”, replied his little robot friend, zipping up out of his schoolbag.

“Confirm the video on the screen is authentic, please.”, Max ordered, glaring at Lila from behind his glasses.

“Of course, Max.”, Markov replied. “Scanning…………. analysing……….”

Lila glared at the little robot, tempted to lob something heavy and break it, but before she could do anything Markov completed his analysis.

“Confirmed.”, he announced cheerfully. “The video footage is 100% authentic. No evidence of tampering or splicing.”

Markov’s still-lacking comprehension of emotions meant he could not detect the almost palpable chill that hit the room at his words. Anger, shock, disbelief and disgust roiled in everyone as they realised that Lila had deliberately injured a blind woman. At the murderous look on Max’s face, however, he wisely decided that a sudden and long back-up of his systems was best and retreated into the confines of Max’s schoolbag.

“You………. you…………..”, said Alya, inarticulate with rage.

“HOW COULD YOU?!”, Rose exploded.

And she sprang at Lila with a noise like a panther, only failing to reach her because Juleka and Kim managed (at the last second and probably reluctantly) restrained her. Lila realised that she was in severe trouble and looked for a way out, but Nathaniel was blocking her in and holding an umbrella in a pretty threatening manner.

“The depths of the trouble you are in cannot be overstated, Lila.”, Mrs. Rossi said. 

“Why should I care?”, Lila sneered, not bothering with the act. “I’ve got diplomatic immunity thanks to you.”  
Mrs. Rossi snorted.

“Contrariamente, ma bella.”, she said, lapsing into her native Italian. “I have diplomatic immunity. However, as I am merely a junior official, that status does not extend to you.”

“What?”, Lila asked, looking fearful.

“In addition.”, Kagami said. “Italy and France are both members of the European Union and share the same justice system. This makes you an EU citizen, and subject to EU laws. And diplomatic immunity, even if you had it, does not protect you from facing charges for severe crimes.”

“It wasn’t a severe crime.”, Lila protested, disgruntled. “Your mother isn’t dead, for goodness sake!”

Kagami almost seemed to teleport from beside Mrs. Rossi at the front of the class to Lila’s desk at the back, so fast did she move. In her hand was a ruler, snatched from Alya’s desk as she passed and now pointed like a sword right at Lila’s face. She jerked backwards with a squeak of fear.

“She is not dead, correct.”, Kagami snarled. “But that does not excuse your actions in any way. Had she fallen at a different angle or hit her head off a table, she could have broken her neck. And even without that, she has a broken hip that will require many weeks, if not months, of intensive physical therapy to recover from and which may not ever heal fully. All because of you, a vicious, petty and spiteful creature who doesn’t deserve to be called a human being!”

“You cannot even claim an excuse laid down by Freud, because your mother clearly loves you dearly and tries to be as present as possible despite the demands of her job, a job she does to ensure you can have a happy and safe life! I went into that embassy today expecting a woman just like you, because I believed only an equally poisonous creature could have spawned you. I was utterly flabbergasted to find that not only was your mother a very nice and helpful woman, but you had been willfully deceiving her and taking advantage of her kindness and trust in you! Did you also not care that your lies put her job at risk?”

Lila sneered in spite of herself.

“No they didn’t.”, she said. “Why would an embassy pay attention to schoolgirl yarns?”

Mrs. Rossi spluttered in disbelief.

“They would certainly pay attention to claims alleging that one of their junior diplomats was abusing embassy time and funds to go off globetrotting and hobnobbing with celebrities!”, she said. “I nearly had a heart attack when I was informed of that because I could have been suspended or even fired if my superiors believed we were doing that!”

“So what?”, Lila snapped. “It’s not my fault you neglect me so much that I have to make up stories so my life isn’t as boring as these losers are!”

“Oh, losers are we?!”, Alya snapped. “I run the most popular blog in Paris, a blog that will soon be undergoing a massive change because of your poisonous lies!”

“We’re part of Kitty Section!”, Ivan said, his fingers flexing angrily. “We’ve got a contract with Bob Roth Records!”

“Me and my boyfriend created the most popular comic in Paris!”, snarled Nathaniel.

“I’m just utterly fabulous on my own!”, Chloe preened.

Marinette got to her feet now, looking angrier than she’d ever been.

“Leaving aside my own accomplishments, this class has accomplished more than most people our age have ever done!”, she said. “If you even bothered to learn about what we had done, you’d probably have determined to tear us all down and make us feel small simply so you could feel bigger.”

“Is that why you tried to slander Ladybug to me when you were trying to convince me you were the Fox Miraculous holder?”, Adrien asked, missing the convulsive movement from Alya as he said that. “Because you were jealous of all the attention and admiration she was getting and wanted to make yourself more impressive than her?”

“And why shouldn’t I have?”, Lila snapped. “Ladybug doesn’t even deserve to be worshipped, not after what she did to me!”

“She called you a liar, which is what you were doing!”, Adrien replied. “What else was she supposed to do?”

“She was supposed to stay out of the way and not interfere!”, Lila hissed. “Who cares if I lied?”

“I would think a lot of people would care, considering just what you’ve lied about!”, Mrs. Rossi thundered. “Aside from your lie about being Ladybug’s best friend potentially putting you and me in danger, you’ve also made claims about celebrities that are grounds for being sued for slander and spreading false information!”

“So what?!”, Lila exclaimed. “Why should they care about what one girl is saying about them miles away?”

“Because if people take what you say seriously, it could result in their own livelihoods being threatened!”, Mrs. Rossi pressed. “What do you think people would say about Jagged Stone writing a song about a teenage girl? He’d be accused of courting a minor, or even worse!”

“But why-?”, Lila began.

“AKUMA!!!!!”

It was Max who had shrieked, standing on his chair and pointing at the high window where, sure enough, an akuma had just flown in. It fluttered in the air, confused; because of the multitude of negative emotions present in the room, it didn’t know which way to turn. But there was someone willing to make the choice for it. Lila, her face alight with terrible joy, barged Kagami aside and ran down the aisle, hands eagerly stretching out towards the akuma.

“Come here, little akuma!”, she cried. “Come to me- OOF!”

Mylene shoulder-charged her out of nowhere, using the full force of her small and hefty body in the impact. Lila was barged sideways, slamming into Alix’s desk with a loud thud and lying there stunned for a second.

“GET HER!”, shouted Juleka.

“GRAB HER LEGS!”, Alix yelled.

“GO FOR THE SHINS!”, Rose cried.

Lila tried to rise and stagger towards the akuma, but Rose slammed her heavy schoolbag into her shins and Juleka leapt to tackle her as Mylene went for her ankles and Alix actually clung to her back and wrapped her arms around her neck in a chokehold. Lila frenziedly tried to fight them off as Marinette, Alya, Adrien and Nino joined the fray, the former two grabbing her arms and the boys blocking the aisle with their bodies. Max, who had been rummaging in his bag, produced a glass jar, jumped over the seats in front of him and captured the akuma within the jar at the apex of his next leap, landing almost cat-like on the floor at the front.

“All right, Max!”, Kim cheered. “Score!”

“Thank you, Kim.”, Max said, giving a little bow before holding up the glass jar and examining the trapped akuma. “I’ve always wanted to study one of these.”

“I can help!”, Markov said, zipping over. “Beginning analysis.”

Lila, with half her classmates hanging off her, was unable to do more than growl angrily at everyone.

“I suppose that’s another thing we can add to your list of crimes.”, Kagami remarked. 

“Being akumatised is not a crime.”, Lila retorted. “Otherwise you’d all be in jail!”

“Correct, Lila.”, said Ms. Bustier. “But I’m sure deliberately going after an akuma to get yourself akumatised is, because that implies a willing collaboration with Hawk Moth.”

“And we just got it on video.”, Sabrina crowed.

Lila, with difficulty owing to Alix’s half-nelson, looked around and felt the blood draining from her face. Ms. Bustier, Nathaniel, Sabrina and Chloe all had their phones out and were recording her. She was finished. Unless………………. surely her mother wouldn’t let her be thrown to the wolves? She looked hopefully in the direction of her mother, affecting her most pleading look, but it evaporated like water on a stove burner at the sight of Mrs. Rossi’s Medusa glare.

“So.”, she said in a deadly whisper. “You’re also a terrorist sympathiser? And I already thought you couldn’t sink any lower. But, hey, why not? You’ve already opened us up to multiple lawsuits from the great and good of the world, played truant for half a year, bullied and manipulated your classmates and put a blind woman in the hospital. Why not just throw in your lot with a supervillain terrorist to boot and potentially jeopardise the working relationship between two of the most prominent EU nations?”

“Mama, please.”, Lila pleaded. “None of this is as it seems.”

“Be silent, you stupid girl!”, her mother snapped. “I will hear no more of your lies!”

Kagami walked down to the front of the class, just signing off on her phone.

“The police are on their way.”, she said. “And someone should put out an alert for Ladybug once Max is finished with that akuma.”

Barely had she said that then there was a curse from Max’s direction and, as they looked, they saw that the akuma within the jar had turned into an ordinary white butterfly. 

“Damn it!”, Max cursed. “I was hoping to get a closer look at how this thing worked.”

“No matter, Max!”, Markov said cheerfully. “I analysed it’s energy signature. Perhaps we can use that to trace the source!”

“Capital idea, Markov!”, Max replied. “I hope his lair has a security system I can hack and turn against him!”

Max was among those who had taken akumatisation the hardest, so he was more eager than most to see Hawk Moth taken down. He opened the jar and the little white butterfly fluttered out of it. Adrien held out a hand and it landed on his finger, a harmless and fragile little thing.

“Awwwww, poor little thing.”, he said. “You’re supposed to turn people into heroes, but Hawk Moth abuses you to create villains instead.”

“It’s so sad, too.”, Marinette joined in. “I used to love butterflies, but thanks to Hawk Moth the mere sight of one is now traumatic.”

At that moment there was a minor commotion by the door and they all turned to see Lieutenant Roger Raincomprix and a trio of armed officers standing on the threshold.

“Someone reported a willing collusion with Hawk Moth.”, he said by way of introduction.

“That would be………… her.”, Mrs. Rossi replied with an irritable jerk of her head in Lila’s direction.

Lieutenant Roger’s eyebrows rose in surprise as he saw Lila with half the class still hanging off her, even though she was doing her best to throw them off.

“I see.”, he said slowly. “I assume you have proof, because this falls under the anti-terrorism laws and any false report will be met with harsh punishment.”

Sabrina, Ms. Bustier, Nathaniel and Chloe all held up their phones.

“We got it on record, officer.”, Ms. Bustier said. “An akuma got into the room and Lila ran right at it trying to grab it. If it weren’t for her more heroic classmates, she might have succeeded.”

Lieutenant Roger took the teacher’s phone (as the only one of them of-age, she didn’t require parental presence or consent for the police to use her phone as evidence) and opened up the latest recorded video. His eyebrows rose in a startled expression as he watched, then contracted into a very angry frown that he directed at the wretched girl.

“I see.”, he said again, with visible effort at restraining his true feelings. “You are this girl’s mother, I presume?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”, Mrs. Rossi replied.

“Then you’ll need to come with me.”, Lieutenant Roger said. “She’s underage, which makes things……….. difficult.”

Suddenly Lila, who had been slumped in a docile fashion, sprang up. Shaking her classmates loose, with some difficulty and losing a few strands of hair in Alix’s case, she sprang at Kagami with all the viciousness and lethal intent of a predator.

“YOU!”, she shrieked. “YOU RUINED EVERYTHING! I’LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!”

But Kagami reacted faster. As Lila made to strike her, Kagami grabbed her right arm in a firm grip, right on the wrist, and twisted her hand sharply. There was a sickening popping crack and Lila screamed in pain, falling to her knees and cradling her right arm, whose wrist was now bent at a very awkward angle.

“Y-You……….. you broke my wrist!”, Lila sobbed, with real tears this time.

“Don’t be so melodramatic.”, Kagami scoffed. “I merely dislocated it. A small application of pressure in the right direction and it should pop right back in.”

“I’ll do it!”, Juleka said enthusiastically.

Everyone looked at with slightly disturbed expressions.

“What?”, she defended. “I have a macabre mind, sue me.”

Juleka did fix it, but she did so a little rougher than was necessary and after relocating it, she gripped the wrist hard enough to garner a yelp of pain from Lila.

“That was for tricking Rose.”, she said.

Lila wanted to snarl back, but there was a dangerous glint in Juleka’s eyes and she was still holding her sore wrist, so she remained silent. Lieutenant Roger took a pair of handcuffs off his belt and placed them securely on Lila’s wrists.

“Ouch!”, she cried. “Watch my wrist, you big bully!”

“Shut up!”, Roger snapped. “If there’s one thing I hate, it’s a bully, and by the sound of it you’re the worst bully Paris has seen in years.”

“You have no idea.”, Mrs. Rossi said, still glaring at her daughter. “I have a full list of her crimes, in exhaustive detail and gathered by this fine young lady, whose blind mother is presently in the hospital because my daughter made her slip and fall.”

Lieutenant Roger’s grip on the handcuffs tightened to the extent that the metal dug into his flesh.

“Right.”, he said. “Let’s go before I’m tempted to commit police brutality.”

And he dragged a protesting Lila out of the room. Mrs. Rossi lingered behind to speak to Kagami.

“Allow me to convey my most sincere apologies on behalf of my daughter.”, she said. “That is, if I haven’t disowned her before the day is out.”

“I accept.”, Kagami replied graciously. “I apologise for dragging you into this so abruptly into this, but your daughter had clearly shown there was no depth she wasn’t willing to sink to and it was high time someone in authority got wind of her true face.”

“Of course.”, Mrs. Rossi said. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow that my daughter was responsible for all of this, but I’m no fool. The evidence is overwhelming and the crimes staggering. There will be so much to pay for, and all because I trusted her too much!”

“The fault is not yours alone.”, Kagami replied. “There were errors on many parts, not just you, and it was this that allowed her to get away with so much for so long. But the mistakes of the past matter not. What matters is how one fixes them, and you’ve already begun to do that.”

Mrs. Rossi gave her a shrewd but grateful look.

“You are a very mature girl for your age.”, she said. “I thank you for your understanding, and I can only hope to earn your forgiveness one day.”

“Perhaps.”, Kagami replied. “But for now, focus on ensuring your daughter is firmly punished for her crimes.”

“Oh, I will.”, Mrs. Rossi said. “Suddenly that military reform school my mother suggested looks really tempting.”

Muttering darkly to herself, she strode off after the police officers. Ms. Bustier, who was looking both satisfied and guilty, cleared her throat.

“Everyone, I need to go and speak to Mr. Damocles about this.”, she said. “Officiating Lila’s expulsion and all that. With that in mind, and the near-miss with the akuma, I don’t feel remiss in declaring this a free day.”

This garnered a cheer from the class, muted only slightly by Ms. Bustier’s disapproving look, and they left the school talking excitedly about the events they’d just witnessed. Mylene’s rugby tackle of Lila and Rose’s slightly disturbing eagerness to hack the girl’s shins garnered particular attention.

“Mylene, that was awesome!”, Kim said. “I’ve never seen a tackle that great!”

“I surprised myself, to be honest.”, the little shy and mousy girl replied. “But I had all that stuff roiling in my head and then when Lila went for that akuma, I just saw red and refused to be afraid anymore.”

“You were amazing, Mylene!”, Ivan said, hugging his small girlfriend. “I’m so proud!”

“You know, some people would think it was an affront to our manhood that the girls were stronger and more active in this situation.”, Kim remarked, his mouth again acting without his brain.

“Yeah, morons.”, Alix replied. “You don’t think that way, do you, Kim?”

“Hell no!”, Kim said, looking affronted. “I actually like the idea of a girl who can kick your ass. Keeps you on your toes.”

“And turns you on.”, Max muttered, pinching Kim’s behind and making the taller boy yelp.

A few people chuckled at that, with Kim giving Max a sharp glare as he rubbed his sore rear.

“Speaking of which, that was one hell of a leap back there, Max.”, Adrien said. “A leap worthy of Ladybug herself.”

“Thanks.”, Max replied, a little bashfully. “It’s a bit like Mylene; I just saw red and acted to protect my friends. A pity I wasn’t able to examine the akuma in greater detail.”

“But what you did find could be beneficial for the heroes.”, Marinette replied. “If you can find a way to detect and trace Hawk Moth’s energy signature, maybe Ladybug and Cat Noir can find and capture him!”

“Maybe.”, Max replied, looking intrigued. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“I can see it now!”, Adrien said. “Hawk Moth Captured, thanks to the brilliance of Max Kante!”

“Hey, if that ends up happening, I get the exclusive interview!”, Alya said. “Right after I finish scrubbing my blog clean of every trace of that…………… harpy.” 

Alya had clearly been intending to use far worse words, but restrained herself only barely. The revelations about Lila had shaken her to the core; she’d been friends with someone who worked with Hawk Moth! She felt so dirty and unclean, like she’d been contaminated. But that wasn’t even the worst part; she’d been led to doubt her best friend, the sweetest, kindest and goofiest girl in the entire world, all because one narcissistic liar hadn’t liked her attempts to protect her friends from becoming mindless minions and getting their feelings hurt. A chill ran through her as she remembered that she’d trusted Lila to look after her little sisters; she’d left them alone with a sociopathic, terrorist-helping, manipulative liar! Just what had Lila been filling their heads with? Oh, ye gods, this was bad! As they walked along to the park, Kagami suddenly stalked to the front of the group, turned to face them and held out both arms to block them.

“Before we continue anywhere, I think you all owe Marinette an apology for not believing her over Lila.”, she said.

Alya blinked in confusion; could this girl read minds? As one, everyone turned to regard Marinette.

“We’re so sorry, Marinette!”, Rose began. “We should have trusted you from the start instead of thinking you were being mean.”

“Man, what dope were we all smoking that day?”, Nathaniel remarked. “Marinette doesn’t have a mean bone in her body! How did we fall for all that guff?”

“It’s not exactly your fault, guys.”, Marinette reasoned. “Lila was really good at manipulating people’s emotions to her benefit.”

“So, you’re not mad?”, Kim asked hopefully.

She fixed him with an oddly steely glare.

“Not mad, no.”, she said. “A little disappointed, yes, and slightly hurt that you’d trust the word of a girl you barely knew and dismiss my feelings as jealousy, but not mad. I do expect you all to learn a lesson from this situation, though. Namely that things and people aren’t always what they seem at first glance and a second look usually pays off. Lila was relying on you all to trust her blindly without investigating her claims too much and used emotional manipulation to make you feel rotten if you showed any signs of skepticism.”

“I don’t want any of you to feel like you have to instantly believe everything I say, nor immediately distrust the word of the next new student you meet. Just remember that there might be another side to it all, and don’t just brush it off.”

“So, we’re good?”, Kim asked, as oblivious as ever.

Alix punched him in the shoulder.

“Yes, Kim, we’re good.”, Marinette replied. “Although I might need some time before I can fully trust you again.”

“I suppose that’s fair.”, Mylene said. “We’ll still hang out for picnics and stuff, though? We missed you when Lila kept barging you out of them.”

“Yes, Mylene.”, Marinette replied. “I missed them as well, but if I’d gone along Lila would just have made either you or me feel miserable by stirring the pot.”

“In hindsight it was obvious that for all her talk that you were the problem, she was the one who kept poking at it while you just kept your distance from her.”, Alix remarked.

“Let’s just be glad it’s all over now.”, Alya said. “Well, until Hawk Moth’s brought down. I wonder if Lila knows anything about his identity.”

“If she does, babe, you won’t be allowed anywhere near her to ask.”, Nino commented.

“I assure you, I’d be ready, willing and able to torture any answers she might have out of her.”, Aya said fiercely. 

The cheerful babble of talk went on, ignorant of Kagami answering her phone until she stopped dead and Kim almost tripped over her.

“What is it, Kagami?”, Rose asked.

“The hospital called.”, Kagami replied. “My mother’s woken up and is asking to see me.”

There were cheers and a couple of people punched the air. Marinette even hugged her.

“That’s great news, Kagami!”, she said. “I knew it would all work out! A bit of Ladybug luck must have rubbed off on you!”

“I thank you, but I must go immediately.”, Kagami replied. “Apologies for the abrupt departure.”

“Nonsense!”, Max said. “If it were my mother, I’d be doing the same. Go, go!”

Kagami summoned Tatsu and, to her surprise and mild pleasure, found Adrien joining her.

“You’re the second strongest girl I’ve ever met, Kagami, but you need someone by your side for this.”, he said, firmly buckling his seatbelt.

“But what about your father?”, Kagami asked. “Won’t he demand you return home immediately?”

Adrien held up his phone, then offhandedly tossed it out the open car door and into Alya’s hands.

“Ooops!”, he said, covering his mouth in mock shock. “I seem to have misplaced my phone! Whatever shall I do?”

Kagami smiled and then threw her arms around him, hugging him.

“Thank you.”, she said.

“You’re welcome, Kagami.”, Adrien replied.

Marinette smiled in spite of the internal agony the hug was causing her. Perhaps in the future she might have a chance with Adrien, but for now he’d chosen Kagami and she would respect that choice and be happy for both of them. Alya passed her the phone.

“Here, girl. You can return it later and save his hide from that sorry excuse of a father of his.”, she said.

“Thanks.”, Marinette replied. “After all, what are friends for?”

Tatsu drove them to the hospital in short order and, after checking in with the receptionist, headed up to Tomoe’s room. Kagami slowed to a halt as she approached the door, suddenly overcome with nerves.

“What’s wrong, Kagami?”, Adrien asked.

“I………. I’m not sure.”, Kagami replied. “What if……….. what if she blames me?”

“She won’t.”, Adrien said. “You didn’t make Lila do what she did; that was her own sick, twisted and evil choice.”

“I suppose you’re right.”, Kagami replied. “But…….. I’m still worried.”

“That’s natural.”, Adrien said. “Shall I wait out here, or do you want me to come in with you?”

“Come in with me.”, Kagami replied. “But, if my mother wants to speak to me in private……”

“Of course.”, Adrien said.

They entered the room. Tomoe lay with her head on the pillow, her eyes covered by her dark glasses. For a few seconds they were not sure if she was awake, but then her head turned slightly.

“Kagami.”, she said. “Adrien.”

“Whoa!”, Adrien said in a whisper. “How does she do that?”

“Sharpened hearing and a trade secret.”, Tomoe replied. “Approach.”

They did, feeling decidedly nervous, and sat down.

“You may speak.”, Tomoe said. “I am not a porcelain statue that will shatter at the slightest disturbance.”

“Yes, Mother.”, Kagami replied. “How are you feeling?”

“There is pain, yes. Much pain.”, Tomoe replied. “However, I shall persevere.”

“Dr. Kurtzberg said you would be needing physical therapy to recover from your broken hip.”, Kagami said.

“Good.”, Tomoe replied. “I wish to start as soon as possible. I will not be reduced to a helpless indolent by one insignificant accident.”

Adrien and Kagami exchanged looks; her spirit was certainly not broken.

“And what of the ijiwaru kusogaki that did this to me?”, Tomoe asked.

Both Kagami and Adrien gasped at the use of profanity from such a dignified and restrained woman, but they didn’t begrudge her those words because they fitted Lila to a T and they could think of a few other choice phrases as well.

“Crushed like the yowamushi she is.”, Kagami replied. “I uncovered evidence of her many crimes and deceptions and showed it to her mother. Last I saw, she was being dragged off in handcuffs after trying to deliberately akumatise herself.”

“Good.”, Tomoe said. “I forgive your crude word use because this is one of the rare occasions where it is appropriate in order to convey the depths of your feelings on this matter. She tried to akumatise herself, you say? Did she succeed?”

“No, Mother.”, Kagami replied. “Several of her classmates restrained her and another one trapped the akuma in a jar. She did try and attack me, though.”

“What?!”, Tomoe snapped, trying to sit up on reflex before wincing and sinking back down. “Then she was either incredibly stupid or she had nothing left to lose. Did she hurt you?”

“No, Mother.”, Kagami replied. “I grabbed her wrist and dislocated it before she could try anything. I did debate on something more permanent, but I did not want to run the risk of an assault charge nor give her the excuse to play the victim.”

“Good.”, Tomoe replied. “Karma is not to be mocked, and that wretch seemed to be doing so with impunity. Now it has caught up to her and she has nowhere to run.”

Adrien had been listening to this with reserved calm; though his conscience needled at him, he pushed it down because Lila had been given more chances than she deserved to redeem herself and thrown them all back in their faces out of spite whilst continuing her usual ways until they ended up backfiring on her horribly with no escape. Tomoe turned her head to look right at him.

“Adrien, would you mind leaving the room for a moment?”, she asked. “I wish to speak to Kagami alone.”

“Of course, Tomoe-san.”, Adrien replied. “I’ll go and see about refilling your water jug.”

He kissed Kagami on the top of her head and then left the room. She smiled as she watched him leave, but the smile faded once he was gone and she looked at the door with wistfulness and regret before turning back to Tomoe.

“Yes, Mother?”, she asked.

“Kagami, there are many things to be said and not a lot of time because in spite of my best efforts, I grow tired and slumber calls.”, Tomoe replied. “First and foremost, I am proud of you.”

Kagami froze; the words she had been waiting to hear for years had just been uttered, and she was not ready for them. Tomoe seemed to realise this because she did not speak for several minutes, giving Kagami time to come to terms with what she’d just heard.

“Y-You are?”, she said. “But, you’ve never shown-”

“Because I was constantly pushing you to maintain that pride.”, Tomoe replied. “Had I said it all the time or too prematurely, the notion might have gone to your head and made you neglect your commitments. Perhaps I waited too long, but no matter. You know now.”

“I have been proud of you for a long time, even if I did not openly show it. And this ordeal only shows that my pride was well-placed. Many would have been broken, seeing their parental figure laid as low as I was out of nothing but pure spite, and I sense that you would have been vulnerable to akumatisation, a foolish and easy path to vengeance. But you proved yourself stronger than that, and instead took the righteous path of justice. You matched your vile enemy before outclassing and beating her at her own game. You have far to go, Kagami, and the path is neither swift nor easy. But you will triumph.”

Kagami was overwhelmed with emotion at all of this.

“Mother…………….”, she managed. “I never knew………….. you never said.”

“I love you dearly, Kagami”, Tomoe replied. “I may not say as often as perhaps I should, but I do. And it is because of that that I wish you to succeed. The world is evolving fast and is not like it was when I was young, but there is still immense resistance to the idea of a woman being strong enough to succeed on her own. I fought tooth and nail to attain what I have; you will have to do the same. There will be challenges, enemies who dislike you for being stronger and better than them and who will attempt to tear you down so they can appear bigger than they are. This Lila girl was the first, and you have proven yourself admirably. But then there is the second thing; Adrien.”

Kagami wanted to deny it, but knew it was pointless.

“Yes, Mother.”, she said. “I do care for him, but it seems that what we thought existed between us is not……………. what we thought it was.”

“As is life.”, Tomoe replied evenly. “He does care for you immensely and you do the same, but he cannot commit himself to you in the way you wish him to because his heart belongs to someone else. He himself may be starting to realise this, but in his care for you does not want to end what you have for fear of hurting you.”

“Yes.”, Kagami said. “He is an ideal match, but not a perfect one. To attempt to force him into becoming one will not work and will only harm each other. But that does not mean what we have right now needs to end right now.”

“How do you mean, Kagami?”, Tomoe asked, though Kagami was certain she already knew the answer.

“There is much we can still learn from and teach each other.”, Kagami went on. “Already I have learned to become more laid-back, kinder, empathetic, all without compromising the virtues and values you have instilled in me. And already Adrien is becoming more assertive, taking control of his life and not allowing every aspect of it to be dictated. We might not be destined for togetherness, but that does not mean we can’t still help each other grow. And in time, this growth will help us find our own perfect matches.”

“Succinct.”, Tomoe commented. “Well done, Kagami. You have learned much.”

“But there is always more to be learned, Mother.”, Kagami replied, bowing respectfully.

Tomoe nodded her head, the closest she could come to a bow in her present condition, before settling down to rest. Kagami kissed her mother on the forehead before leaving the room, spotting Adrien approaching from the end of the corridor. He smiled warmly as he saw her, clutching a jug of water. 

“Everything all right?”, he asked.

“Everything is fine, Adrien.”, Kagami replied with an enigmatic smile. “Just fine.”

“OK, then.”, Adrien said. “Let me just put this in the room and we’ll go. Hopefully my father hasn’t already sent half the police force on a manhunt for me.”

“If he has, we can evade them together.”, Kagami replied. “An exercise in stealth, precision and evasion for our next bout.”

Adrien laughed warmly, making Kagami’s heart do a sort of flutter. As he went into Tomoe’s room, she felt sadness at the thought that the two of them were ultimately not compatible enough for a long-term match. But this vanished as she remembered that whilst what they had was temporary, that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy what time still remained until the end. After all, the future was always in motion. And what might be days away could suddenly become months. It mattered not, so long as she enjoyed those days or months while they lasted. Smiling fully, she linked her arm with Adrien’s and strode out of the hospital. They had time, after all.

“By the way, you said that I’m the second strongest girl you’ve met.”, she remarked. “Who’s the first?”

“Oh!”, Adrien replied, looking very flustered. “Well, it’s Ladybug, but that’s not really a fair comparison given she’s……………. well, you know.”

“I see.”, Kagami remarked. “Then I shall have to challenge her to a duel to the death and see which is truly the strongest.”

Adrien began spluttering, but stopped as Kagami laughed and nudged his shoulder.

“I'm kidding.”, she said. “Mostly.

==================================================================

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, another Lila downfall. I didn't go into specific detail at the end because it's essentially the same as all my others (arrested, charged, sent back to Italy and imprisoned) and it get sboring repeating it, since I also aim to make each of my salt fics as unique as possible. 
> 
> The class, especially the girls, show themselves as major badasses if pushed to the brink. I particularly enjoyed writing the bit with Mylene rugby-tackling Lila and Rose attacking her shins with a heavy bag, then Juleka getting a bit macabre as a call-back to her being completely unfazed by Horrificator. They all strike me as people who can be genuinely dangerous if the situation calls for it and there exists the saying "Beware the Nice Ones" for a reason. Max capturing the akuma and trying to examine it is something i'd considered a while back, reasoning that a scientific genius such as Max would be intensely interested in studying the akumas and maybe using that in an attempt to find Hawk Moth. The Butterfly Miraculous probably gives off a specific energy signature when it's powered up and creating akumas, and if that can be identified and traced it could be a way to locate Hawk Moth's lair. Just a thought.
> 
> Kagami certainly shines in this story, not letting anything get her down but meeting her foe with her full might and not taking the "easy path" of akumatisation, which Lila could use to play a victim card. And though she does the same thing as Lila does by including her target's mother in the game, but rather than harming her informs her of the situation and presents her evidence to her, eliminating her enemy legally and above board. The Japanese phrases used by Tomoe are rather offensive and not something she'd usually say, but when the occasion calls for it. Translations are "spiteful/malicious brat" and "weak insect" for Kagami's phrase.
> 
> The bit at the end is how I view Adrien's relationship with Kagami. I think it's pretty obvious that Adrien and Marinette are endgame, but their alternate love interests serve a good purpose in helping them to grow and change so they will click when that finally happens. I dislike all the vitriol against Luka and Kagami simply because they impede the "designated ship".
> 
> Finally, I still have more ideas for future installments of CONSEQUENCES, including ones involving Cat Blanc, Marc and Nathaniel and Emilie Agreste. Not sure in what order that'll be or when I get round to it, but it's there.

**Author's Note:**

> So, Lila marks Kagami as her next target, only to find that Kagami is not the same as Marinette and will not brush her off so easily. Kagami's reaction here may seem unusual, but she has no interest in playing along with Lila's delusions and will ignore her, though she will fight back if Lila tries anything.
> 
> Lila doesn't learn and keeps using the same tactics without considering the fact that maybe people might catch onto them. The exact same thing happening to Kagami as happened to Marinette will naturally cause some raised eyebrows and make a few people suspicious. Even if they don't have any concrete proof Lila was behind it, they will be less trusting of her.
> 
> Ms. Mendeleiev is not Ms. Bustier and whilst she's not the nicest, neither is she trusting to the point of stupidity. She'd be aware of the circumstances with Marinette's framing and would take extra precautions to make sure nobody tried it again. If they used the stolen answer sheet, they would have failed instantly. She seems a bit sharper than the rest when it comes to sniffing out trouble.
> 
> The class, as usual, are not demonised. I've read salt fics where they are inexplicably turned racist or homophobic even though they're a diverse class in and of themselves. Lila's attempt to frame Marinette for her supposed assault garners supremely negative responses, as they've probably had to deal with prejudice of some sort and dislike it immensely. Kim, as the only other Asian in the class, speaks up because there are unfortunately a lot of people who lump all Asian groups together and don't bother to distinguish them. I based this on personal experience of people calling me English when I'm actually Scottish, which we as a people really hate; it's not that we're better, we're just not the same.


End file.
